


The War Of Kettle-stone(old)

by Jackyboy



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Davey Is A Queen Fan, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fighting, Gay Newsies, Jack and Crutchie are foster brothers, M/M, Prank Wars, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Spot is in denial, Spot is stubborn but not as stubborn as Race
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-08-24 05:09:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16633556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackyboy/pseuds/Jackyboy
Summary: Set in the 80s, Two feuding high schools, Brimstone and River County, are constantly at each other’s neck. Whether it be through harmless pranks to downright sabotage, it seems these schools can and will never get along, that is until David Jacobs is thrown into the mix.David Jacobs is a new transfer student at Brimstone High School and has not yet heard tell of the ongoing war. By chance encounter he meets the brains behind all of River County’s attacks, Jack Kelly. The two hear of a plan that’s could destroy both schools as they know it. Will they be able to band the two enemies together? Or will they be too late to save their schools from a tragedy?





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Davey meets someone special

David Jacobs never liked the idea of switching schools. At least he didn’t think he did. Having to start fresh somewhere with no friends did not sound appealing to the seventeen year old. Then again, it’s not like he had friends to say goodbye to from his old school. David wasn’t a loner, but he wasn’t exactly popular either. He had a few school friends who only really spoke to him when they were in class. Other than that it was him and his books.

So perhaps switching schools wasn’t going to be the worst thing to happen to him. Maybe a fresh start was a good thing. That’s what his mom and pops had told him at least. Perhaps he would meet some new friends, and have a normal teenager life. Where he would go see movies with friends, visit an arcade, and listen to some CDs or really old records. That’s what groups of friends did right? Yeah, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad for David.

At least that’s what he tried to convince himself as he sat on a bench in a park near his new home. It felt funny calling that one story white house home. David supposed one day he would be used to it. Everything was essentially the same. Same bookcase in his room that stood tall from floor to ceiling. There was the same wooden table in their kitchen that David was convinced would crack any moment under any more weight. But still, the atmosphere of it all felt, off.

A small sigh was let out as a drop of rain fell on to his lap. Looking up David noticed that the skies had turned a dark grey while he had been lost in his music. Taking off his headphones, he tucked his Walkman into his jacket pocket. His mom would kill him if that thing got damaged by the rain.

His house wasn’t far, just under a ten minute walk through town. Yet it seemed fate would be unkind to him that afternoon, as not too long after he began his walk home, the light rain turned into a steady downpour. Looking between a record shop beside him, and the sidewalk ahead, David finally made the decision to duck into the shop.

“God damn Mother Nature,” The senior grumbled as he shook the rain off like a wet dog. He figured he must look like that what with his hair dangling soaked around his face.

A middle aged gentleman stood behind the shop, barely giving David a glance as he stepped further into the store, letting the door close behind him. The store was fairly small, packed tightly with boxes upon boxes of records. It was quickly brought to David’s attention that he in fact was not the only one who slipped in here to get away from the rain.

“You gonna keep standing there looking like a wet poodle, or are you coming inside?” A voice asked. It took David a moment to register that the voice he was hearing was the other boy in the shop.

Shaking his head once more, David made his way over to a row of vinyls and pretended to look through them. All while really, he was focusing on the other boy in the shop, who kept looking over at him. He figured it was due to his disheveled hair and jacket. David probably looked like a mess.

After a half hour, the rain still hadn’t let up. He knew his mother would be worrying but walking home in this small rain storm was not something David wished to do. Plus, his headphones would be wrecked if they got wet.

The other boy in the shop hadn’t left either. That wasn’t anything strange though, he was probably hiding out from the rain as well. The strange thing was, that he kept looking at David. David would feel a small blush form every time he caught the other looking at him.

This time when it happened, David looked away and busied himself looking through the records. He didn’t even look up when he heard soft foot steps approaching in front of him. A throat was cleared and that’s when David looked up to see the boy standing in front of him.

His hair was slightly lighter than David’s, and he was a bit shorter than David previously thought. Though he was short, the boy was broad. Unlike David who was tall and lanky.

“Can I help you?” David asked, it coming out ruder than meant.

“Are you new here or something?” The boy asked David. He asked it as if he personally knew everyone in this town, and kept record of who came and went.

Cocking one eyebrow up, David folded his arms over his chest. “Why do you wanna know?” David asked, once again coming out with more bite than intended. He wasn’t a rude guy, but him being weirded out by this boy was acceptable right?

The boy leaned back on his heels and shrugged. He couldn’t tell if he was just curious or was an asshole. Perhaps both. “Never seen you in here before or around town. Being in this store a lot, you get a feel of the town’s citizens,” He paused and looked up and down at David as if he was assessing him. “What’s your name anyways?”

David considered giving him a fake name or just not telling him. His mother had told him not to give information to strangers, even if this stranger was a cute but obnoxious teenager. “David,” He said without really thinking, uncrossing his arms as he did so. “David Jacobs.”

A small smile seemed to find its way on to the boy’s face as he nodded at the information. He started to do up his jacket and head towards the door. “Well Davey, I hope to be seeing more of you. Oh and welcome to Kettleston.”

Just as the other opened door, David cleared his throat and stood a bit taller. “I uh- I never caught your name.” He called out.

“I never threw it,” He responded with a bit of a cheeky grin. David rolled his eyes and gave him an expression that asked ‘Really?’. The boy just grinned further and stepped through the door just before poking his head back in.

“It’s Jack, Jack Kelly.”


	2. The First Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David finally learns about the war, and who Jack Kelly is.

David thought he knew stress. He thought he had experienced it at his old school. But it was nothing compared to this new one. The work load was at least three times more than he had at his old school, and seemed to move much faster. But David was a smart kid, he could handle this just fine, most likely. 

It had been two weeks since David started at his new school. In those two weeks he had not seen Jack Kelly again. He always scanned the hallways as he walked down for the record store boy, but to no avail. The boy seemed to not exist outside that record store, which David hadn’t returned back to. Which, if he really was trying to find Jack, was a stupid idea not to return.

It wasn’t like David was avoiding that store. He really just hadn’t had extra time to do anything outside of school work and watching his younger brother Les. Besides, now with school started, David assumed Jack Kelly would be with his friends all the time and doing actual teenager things. Both of those things the seventeen year old had yet to experience. 

He wasn’t exactly sure why he wished to see Jack again. Yes the boy had been, well, attractive, but David had never been one to scan for a cute boy he met once in his hallways. That usually seemed like a waste of time for him. Besides, they were always straight as far as he knew. But Jack Kelly interested David. Perhaps it’s because he was the first person to actually want to interact with David in this town. So yes, he wanted to see Jack again.

For now however, David tried to keep his mind from wandering back to the record store boy, and instead on the history text book in front of him. His partner for this class had transferred classes not too long after the school year started, so once again, David was on his own. That is, until he saw a girl sit down next to him. 

She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail with perfect curls hanging from it. Her face was soft with fairly pale skin and deep brown eyes. Though David was pretty, well, gay, he knew this girl was beautiful. She turned to him and gave a confident smile before pulling out her own textbooks. David returned the gesture, though with slightly less confidence. 

He was grateful for the new girl, because at that moment, their teacher assigned them a small project to work on. Before she had showed up, their class was uneven with David being the only one without a partner. Which meant he’d be the awkward one having to join another group to form a group of three. 

“I’m Katherine,” The girl now known as Katherine started, “Plumber,” She said, almost stalling before revealing her last name. David quirked an eyebrow and had a small smile on his face.

“You seemed unsure about your last name there, did you forget?” David asked, his tone light and in a joking manor. Katherine grinned and let out a small laugh shaking her head. “Well I’m David Jacobs.” 

Their project was to put together a presentation on the life of one of the founding fathers. David and Katherine ended up picking James Madison, the fourth US President, and got to work. Inside the classroom they didn’t have many resources and information to create their presentation, so as the bell rang Katherine handed David a slip of paper.

“I’m free tomorrow if you want to work on this. Call me tonight to arrange when to meet up. But know Jacobs, I will not be doing all the work on this,” Stated Katherine, walking towards the door with her head held high. This girl was full of all the confidence David did not have. He wasn’t sure whether to admire her, or be afraid of her. 

“Fucking River County!” Someone shouted from out in the hallway. David along with everyone else in the hallway turned their heads to where the commotion was occurring. There at the end of the hallway stood a smaller boy covered in what appeared to be green slime. Half of the students in the hallway laughed at the sight while the other half seemed to be shaking their heads in slight anger and disdain. 

“How’d they even get to the locker room?” David heard a kid from beside him ask. Looking over he saw Katherine watch the kid attempt to wipe the green liquid off of him. Crossing the hallway to where she was standing David gestured to the boy.

“Who did that to him?” David asked her. Katherine shook her head and sighed softly, though it was obvious she was trying to bite back a grin at what had happened.

“I heard them say something about River County, that school across town. But that would mean they broke into the school without anyone noticing. Which is equal parts illegal and impressive,” Katherine explained, a real grin coming on to her face now. 

David hadn’t known there was another school in this town. He figured what with the size there would only be one. The town they lived in was quite a bit smaller than a city, and not what David was used to. He has grown up practically in the middle of New York City. The shock of moving to a town of this size, that only has one grocery store, was quite big. 

“I bet it was that Kelly kid, I heard he was behind the last one too,” A kid said from behind him. Turning around David recognized him as a boy named Romeo from his Chemistry class. Though what had really caught his interest was the name he heard come from Romeo.

“Did you say Kelly?” David queried. If Jack did go to the other school, that’d explain why he hadn’t seen the boy since their encounter. He felt a small glimmer of hope bounce around in his head. 

“Yeah Jack Kelly. I’d say he’s the most hated kid by this school. And rightfully so, the whole lot of them over there are shit-heads,” Another kid with thick round glasses piped up. 

“Why is he so hated?” David found himself asking. Jack Kelly, that was him, the record store kid. The kid David couldn’t seem to keep his mind off of the last couple weeks. But according to the kids at this school, he had been correct on his original thoughts on him.

“This whole school practically despises River County. Been at war with them at least since my parents went here. Last prank they did on us, I found Specs here covered head to toe in glue and bright pink feathers,” Romeo explained, gesturing to the boy with glasses now known as Specs. Specs shivered as if he was having vivid flashbacks from the feathers incident. 

David was going to go back to record store after school. If he had any chance of finding Jack Kelly again, it would be there. He just hoped that maybe Jack would be alone and not with a posy of friends. David was certain he’d turn around and leave if that happened.

“But we’re gonna get then back soon. I hear Tommy Boy is planning on doing something to the wrestling captain over there. I’ll be helping of course. Feel free to tag along, both of you” Specs offered to David and Katherine. David shook his head and politely declined the offer. He was not about to get into the middle of a prank war. Besides, he needed the lunch to work on homework if he ever wanted to go to find Jack Kelly after school.

“I think I’m going to go to the library, get caught up on some things. I’ll see you fellas later, and you too Katherine,” Spinning around on his heel, David quickly made his way to the library. He was determined to get this blasted homework done.  
~~~  
As the bell rang to signal the end of school, David all but jumped up from his chair and rushed out the front door of the school. He knew the store was within walking distance, so David let his feet carry him there all while going over things to say when he did get there.

‘Hey Jack, been a while, heard your kind of an asshole?’

‘Jack! hey there, what’s your opinion on pranks?’

‘Oh hi Jack, say you know that school that hates you? Yeah I’m apart of that school, surprise!’

In other words, David had no clue what he was doing. But the time for worrying about that was over as he steadily approached the store. This was a stupid idea, coming here unprepared. David was not known for moves that weren’t calculated. But here he was, pushing open the door and stepping inside. Stepping inside and scanning the store for signs of short brown hair. 

A small sigh was let out when David realized Jack wasn’t here. Out of relief or disappointment he wasn’t sure. But what was he to do now? He could stay here and hope that Jack shows up. That might look like he was waiting for him though. David could just leave and try again another time, or possibly never. No that last idea is out. 

“Davey?” Someone called to him. Turning his head, he saw him standing there with a box full of records in his arms. How’d he not see him?

“Did you just appear there out of thin air or something?” David asked aloud, stepping further into the shop and taking off the heavy backpack that had been weighing him down.

He saw Jack shake his head and let out a small chuckle. Setting down the box of records on top of the counter, he gestured to a doorway behind him. “Good guess, but I came from back there. I work here as a part time job,” Jack said, pulling records out of the box. “I come here everyday right after school.”

Nodding at the information, David crossed the store to over where Jack was standing. He took a glance at the records he was unpacking and noticed they were Queen, his favourite band. Picking one up he looked it over and saw that Jack was watching him do so. 

“So uh Davey I ain’t seen a lot of you since we first met. Well really I ain’t seen you at all. Even at school,” Jack said, leaning back against the wall behind him. 

“Well you see, I don’t actually go to your school,” Davey began to carefully explain. “I go to Brimstone, and the guys over there, well I heard a lot about you and the reputation you have. But I’m not judging! I’m not even apart of whatever war you have going on, I just transferred here so it’s not like I could be and-“ David was cut off but Jack who was grinning slightly like he found David’s ramblings amusing.

“Davey Davey listen, I don’t care that you go to school with all the snobs over at Shitstone-“

“Brimstone,” David corrected.

“That’s what I said ain’t it? Anyways, you’re new you don’t know anything about this. I’m not gonna take it personal,” Jack said with a small laugh. David practically sighed with relief. He didn’t know much about this mini war going on, but from what he had been told and seen, the schools really did have some strong feelings for each other. Those feelings being far from love. 

“So did you really do it? The prank I mean,” David asked Jack. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the situation. On one hand he saw it as harmless fun. On the other hand, he knew things could get out of hand quickly. 

An almost proud grin appeared on Jack’s face. “Yup that was yours truly,” he said taking a small bow “Well my idea, but carried out by my pal Race. He’s quick enough to get in and out. Planted that fool inside the mascots head, genius yeah?” 

“You would think that prank was your own child, the way you talk about it with pride,” David said with a light laugh. 

“You say that like all my pranks aren’t my children,” Jack responded. He began putting all the records on to a near by shelf, except for the one David had been admiring. When Jack turned back, he picked up the last record and handed it over to David. “Here I shouldn’t be doing this really but this ones on the house. Well actually on me. Think of it as a, peace offering from one side of this war to the other,” He said before giving David a bright grin. Shaking his head he tried to refuse the gift.

“Jack I couldn’t take this I mean, why me? You hardly know me.” David thought it was a sweet gesture, but could not understand why it was done. He felt a small blush rise on his cheeks before inwardly scolding himself. 

“Because I’d like to get to know Davey Jacobs more,” Jack answered, and David felt that small blush return.

“You know my name isn’t Davey right?” David asked trying to sound a bit more serious, however he couldn’t help but smile at the nickname.

“Maybe I do maybe I don’t, either way I like Davey for you. But hey I should probably get back to work. Weasel, my boss will have a fit if I don’t finish unpacking our new stock. Tomorrow is my day off though, would you want to do something?” Jack suggested, leaning down on the counter and looking up at David with a hopeful expression. How could he say no to that?

“Yeah, yeah sure that sounds great, perfect.” David grinned, fiddling with his hands in front of him. Glee couldn’t help but fill up inside of him at the prospect of getting to spend time with Jack again. 

“Sick, I can just meet you outside Shitstone tomorrow-“

“Jack you know it’s Brimstone,.”

“Ah tomato, tomato. Meet you there and then I can give you a proper tour of the best sights in Kettleston. Well, best sights besides the one you’re looking at right now.” David couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter at that. 

Picking up his bag, David started to back out to the door. “Well Kelly, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” He said, sending Jack one last smile. 

“See you tomorrow Jacobs, I can’t wait,” Jack responded, sending David a grin and what looked to be a wink. But David more than likely imagined that.

As he stepped out of the shop and let the door jingle close behind him, David finally let a wide smile grow on his face. Peaking back inside the shop, he saw Jack sorting through the records in a box and his smile only grew. The seventeen year old was not sure how he was going to be able to sleep tonight, with what was in store for him the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who is reading this! This chapter is a little earlier than intended but I just couldn’t wait to get it out!  
> Follow my tumblr if you would like more Newsies content or to talk broadway with me: Theother9600  
> Have a good morning/day/night lovelies!  
> -Jackie


	3. Jack is Crushing....Hard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack’s point of view in which Davey gets a proper tour of Kettle-ston

Jack Kelly was many things. He was stubborn, he was artistic, he was impulsive, but patient was not one of them. That’s why he found himself pacing back and forth in his room the next morning. The school day hasn’t even started and he was already wishing it was over. After school he was going to hang out with Davey, and boy if that didn’t make his insides do a flip.

Jack had thought the boy was cute from the first day he entered the record shop. His stomach had done a series of somersaults similar to the ones they were doing now. Everyday after that Jack had hoped the other would come back into the shop. After a week Jack gave up, and had figured Davey really just didn’t like him all that much, even in a platonic way. 

That is until he saw the boy enter the shop for the second time. Jack swore he almost dropped the entire contents of the box he was holding right then and there. The same night, Jack has raced home to gush to his foster brother Crutchie about cute, new kid Davey. Crutchie had just sat and listened with a knowing smile on his face, like he did every time Jack fell head over heels for someone new. Which was often. What could he say? He was a hopeless romantic.

“But Crutch, his eyes are so pretty! I’ve never seen a colour like em’. It’s like brown with green. But not hazel that’s just completely different. His eyes are like-“

“Like a forest, mixed with vibrant greens and browns. Yes Jack you told me this.” Crutchie had cut him off as Jack rambled on about his new crush again the next day. He knew Crutchie meant no bite in his remark, Jack could tell by his grin, but it didn’t stop Jack from frowning slightly. 

“Okay but did I tell you about his hair and how-“

“It looks so soft and it seemingly sits perfect without a strand outta place? Yes I think you might’ve mentioned it,” Crutchie responded with another cheeky grin. Jack elbowed him slightly, but not too hard as he knew the kid had horrible balance. Understandably too. 

“Alright alright point taken. Remind me to be harsh on you next time you talk bout’ the boy, oh who was it again? Right Finch.” Crutchie was laughing before his cheeks turned red. Elbowing Jack back he shook his head. “Crutch you know I’m kidding. Anyways, so even though Shitstone is home to Davey, ain’t mean I’m gonna stop fighting back against them.” 

“If you did I’d be severely disappointed in you Jack Kelly.”

“And as you should be. Now listen, I gotta talk to Race about it first, but if he can get in and outta the air vents quick enough, we can get that whole school smellin’ like a horses ass by the end of the day. Albert found me a stink bomb not too long ago,” Jack explained. When Albert DaSilva had presented him with this idea, Jack had practically lit up with interest. He wasn’t sure where the boy had gotten it from, or how legal they were, but he was not about to look into it too far.

Jack knew while Crutchie was on board for any pranks done against Brimstone, he always was wary about people getting hurt. The kid always had a kind heart, one Jack admired about him. So it was no surprise when he chirped up.

“Can’t that hurt people? I mean there has to be some bad stuff in it right?” Crutchie asked, knitting his eyebrows together. It was easy to tell he was weary about the plan, but Jack was determined to put him at ease. He was not planning on backing out of this, but he would feel bad doing it if Crutchie was against it.

“Hey look Albert told me that it ain’t that strong alright? Plus that school’s so big that it’ll spread out and not even be that horrible. The most that’ll happen is that those who get the brunt of it will be a little sick to their stomachs. But that’s nothing they can’t handle right?” Jack tried to convince him of his plan being okay. Eventually Crutchie just grinned and nodded.

“Great.” Just as Jack spoke, the horribly obnoxious bell rung, signalling the start of first period. “I’ll see you at lunch Crutch. Remember, any of those other boys give you trouble about your bum leg, you tell me alright?” Jack said, giving Crutchie a pat on the back.

“I don’t need you protecting me Jack,” Crutchie responded rolling his eyes.

“Yeah yeah I know you don’t. But I’d just wanna have some friendly words with them about it.” Grinning Jack began to walk away nodding at the other boy. “I’ll see ya later.”

Jack’s first period luckily was a spare. The year before he had completed his needed courses to graduate, and decided to take time to himself instead of taking another class. What he usually did was go down to the park near his school and relax. However that morning Jack Kelly was itching to draw. 

Making his way to the bleachers outside, he pulled out his sketchbook and an old beaten up pencil. Generally, he enjoyed drawing sceneries, especially a place they learned about a while back called Santa Fe. That day though, he could not get the picture of Davey smiling at the proposal of them hanging out, out of his mind. 

As soon as he started, Jack knew his art abilities would not do the boy justice. By the end of the period, he knew he had been correct. The sketch was good he supposed, but there were certain things he got wrong. That outta happen when he was doing it from memory he reasoned. Still, when he finished, Jack found himself wanting the school day to end even faster than before. 

Taking his stuff with him, Jack maneuvered the crowded hallways of high school, to get to English. English had to be one of his least favourite subjects. Why’d he have to learn about a language he’d been speaking since he could talk? Still, the class was made more bearable with Racetrack Higgins sitting beside him.

“Oi Jack!” He was immediately called to by the boy himself. Race was sitting there atop his desk with his legs dangling over the side. As Jack approached him with a wide grin, Race popped the red lollipop that was in his mouth out and held it in his hand, returning the smile. “You got any more runs for me to make? Last one was a piece of cake. Nobody even cared enough to pay attention to me going through the halls with a tub of that green stuff.”

“That’s great Race, and yeah I got something else for you to do. Might take more planning but with your luck I think you can pull it off,” Jack explained, giving Race a pat on the back who immediately seemed to be full of pride. 

Everyone who knew Racetrack Higgins knew he had luck like no other. He made a bet and it almost always worked in his favour. The only reason the “almost” was there was because of the one time the boy thought he could beat Spot Conlon in an arm wrestle. He was sorely mistaken that day and was forced to go to school the next day in a bright pink tutu. Of course Race had strutted around the school like a god damn model, but Spot never lets him live it down. 

“Sounds exciting. Run me through it at lunch will ya? Oh by the way Spot is gonna be joining us for lunch today,” Race said, turning his head away slightly as the last part was said. Jack couldn’t help but smirk and nudge Race’s arm. 

“Oh? The ‘king of Brooklyn’, the ‘man of mystery’, is spending lunch with little old you?” Jack teased, poking Race in the arm. The other swatted his hands away and shook his head. Race tried glaring at Jack and his jokes, but a sheepish smile creeped his way on to his face. 

“Oh shut it. But to answer your question yeah he is. I figured since I’ve been, hanging, around with him, that he should hang with us. He’s a good guy when you get to know him,” Race explained, looking away again as if trying to hide the small blush growing on his face.

“I can practically see little hearts about your head Race.” The other shook his head at Jack’s remark. His hands were fiddling with the lollipop and his cheeks were even more tinted than before. 

“It ain’t like that Jack. We’re just friends if that. Nothing more,” Race explained. While the boy was trying to convince Jack, their teacher came in and ordered the boys to be seated. Jack took his seat next to Racetrack and begrudgingly pulled out the text book needed. As he stared at the black board in front of him jumbled with words, Jack knew this class was gonna be a long one.  
~~~  
By the time lunch came, Jack was ready to pass out. He was right by thinking English would drag on, as that class seemed to be hours long, even with Racetrack by his side. 

His boys were outside on the bleachers when both him and Race arrived to lunch. Crutchie was being helped up the stairs by Finch, Albert was blowing a large bubble from bubblegum, and Spot Conlon was no where to be seen. Jack could see Race scanning for the Brooklyn boy but to no avail.

“I’m sure he’ll show up Race,” Jack said, setting a head on his shoulder and leading him towards the bleachers. “Alright boys! Listen up, Brimstone outta be planning something against us anytime. So we gotta strike before they get us first. Now I got an idea but it’s gonna take some planning. Finch you still got that blue print of the school’s air vents?” Finch nodded at the question. 

“Great. Get that to me when you can. Albert, I’ll need you to be on look out for Race when the time comes. Finally Crutch.” Jack found himself pausing. He knew Crutchie wanted to be apart of it, but with his bum leg he wasn’t sure what the boy could do. 

“Jack it’s okay. I know I can’t help with this one all that much. I’m fine to just be here for moral support,” Crutchie said, offering Jack a thumbs up. Jack patted him on the shoulder and stood atop the bottom bleacher seat. As he did a new voice chirped up.

“Anything I can do?” The voice asked. Turning around Jack saw one Spot Conlin standing there. He also saw Race sit up a bit straighter at the sight. 

Stepping off the bleachers, Jack stood in front of Spot. “Conlon, thought you were against this war we have going on,” He said, folding his arms over his chest. Spot cracked a slight smile and copied Jack’s movements.

“I figured you could use my help. I know stuff about that school that could be useful to your, cause,” Spot said, not going into anymore detail on what he knew. 

“Well Spot on behalf of the rest of us I say welcome aboard,” Ractrack piped up, grinning at both Jack and Spot. If Jack looked closely, he could see a hint of a fond express cross the Brooklyn boy’s face as he looked at Race. He decided to file that away and bring it up with the other later. 

Holding out a hand, Jack nodded at Spot. “Glad to have you aboard the team.” Spot took the extended hand and gave it a shake and a nod.

“Glad to be a part of it.”  
~~~  
Brimstone was father away from River County than Jack remembered. He had figured it would only take roughly fifteen minutes for him to get to Davey’s school, however it had already been twenty minutes and Jack was getting close to being late. His pace slowly picked up to a jog, and then a run. Being late the first time with Davey did not seem like a good third impression.

As Jack approached the much larger and fancier school, he heard the school bell ring and kids file out of it. It was easy to tell the difference between the freshman and seniors. Not only because of the age difference, but because of they way the left school. The freshmen were still bouncing with life, chatting with one another and being obnoxious. The seniors however filed out, their legs carrying them as if their bodies weighed thousands of pounds. Jack tried to make sure he didn’t look like them, though he was apart of them. 

“For the last time Romeo, Canada is not a fake country made up by the government. How would I know this? I’ve been there!” He heard someone exclaim from the doorway of the school. Jack looked up to see Davey exiting the large doorway, accompanied by two smaller boys, and one that just about matched his height. As well it seemed a girl. 

“Davey!” Jack called to him. The other boy immediately looked up, and he watched as a grin spread across his face. One of the smaller boys stood on their top toes and whispered something into Davey’s ear, to which he nodded shyly. 

“I see you got yourself a little posy there Davey,” Jack said as the small group approached. At the comment the one girl looked immediately ticked off. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, but Jack just sent her a cocky grin.

“Oh no these are my uh friends. Romeo, Elmer, Specs, and Katherine.” Davey gestured to each of them in turn. “And you guys already seem to know this as Jack,” He said, giving a nod towards Jack.

The River County member immediately felt out of place. He could tell the others did not enjoy his presence, and he couldn’t blame them. Still, it stung a little to see Davey with them, even though they were his friends it seemed. Nonetheless Jack was determined to make a good third impression, and would play nice with Davey’s friends.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Kelly. I’ve heard much about you,” Katherine said curtly, stepping forwards from her spot behind the group. The girl radiated confidence, and Jack admired that about her. She was smart, it was easy to tell.

“The pleasure is all mine miss,” He replied easily, taking her hand and shaking it. “And the rest of you gents as well. Now I’d love to stick around but Davey, we have some where to be don’t we?” Jack wrapped and arm around Davey’s shoulder and started to lead him away.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Davey called back to his friends before willingly going with Jack.

“David don’t remember we have our project to work on later! Six o’clock!” Katherine responded, shaking her head at Jack’s antics. Davey gave her thumbs up as a sign of approval before Jack forced them to turn a corner down the side walk and into town.

Jack, knowing Davey was knew and had hardly seen the town, wanted to give him a small tour of the best parts. Though Kettle-ston was small, it did have some cute old fashioned shops and places. As well as beautiful forests and a lake. But before he took Davey everywhere else, they had to make a stop at Jack’s second favourite shop in town, next to the record store of course.

“Jacobi’s Ice Cream Parlour,” Davey read aloud as the approached the older shop. Jack and his gang usually would hang out in here on weekends until Mr. Jacobi would kick them out for “loitering”. 

“Home to the best ice cream in town!” Jack said, finally unwrapping his arm from around Davey’s shoulder and heading towards the front door.

“Best ice cream, or only ice cream?”

“Can’t it be both huh?” Jack replied, opening the door for Davey to go inside. The other boy chuckled lightly and shook his head. He thanked Jack for holding the door and stepped inside.

“Wow what a gentlemen, I bet that’s how you get all the girls right?” Davey asked lightly, nudging Jack in the side. Jack felt his heart drop slightly and had the instinct to shake his head. But keeping a smile on his face he just laughed instead and approached the counter. 

“Ah Jack Kelly I see you have a new friend,” Mr Jacobi himself said as he emerged from the back room to behind the counter. “You gentlemen can not stay for long today, I’m closing early for my daughter’s violin recital.”

“That’s alright Mr Jacobi. Davey here is new in town so I wanted him to try a taste of the best ice cream in town,” Jack explained. The older man’s face light up at the praise and began to open up the ice cream box.

“Well then, ice cream is on the house today,” Mr. Jacobi said to the both of them. “But don’t go telling all your other friends I did this for you two. I’ll be out of business if other folks come in here sweet talking their way into freebies!”

“Of course sir, thank you very much.” Turning to Davey, he gestured towards the ice cream in front of them. “Well Davey take your pick.”

He watched Davey lean in and examine each flavour as if it was one of the most important decisions of his life. That’s where the two differed. Jack was impulsive. He jumped into things and plans without second thought. Some of his most genius ideas were made up on the go. Whereas Davey it seemed, was the opposite. He thought carefully about everything. Like what he was going to say or do next. Jack found it cute. Then again most things it seems Davey did, he found cute.

“I’ll have strawberry please sir,” Davey finally said after a few moments. Mr. Jacobi nodded and scooped out two scoops of said ice cream, handing it to Davey afterwards. 

“And I’ll have my usual,” Jack said, pulling out a few bills as a tip. He wanted to make sure him and his pals could keep coming in here in the future. As he was handed his ice cream, he gave Mr. Jacobi the cash.

The man immediately tried to return the cash but Jack refused. “Mister don’t worry about it. We gotta get going but I wish Ellie the best of luck on her recital tonight. Have a good day sir,” Jack quickly said before the money could be given back and pulled Davey out of the shop.

“You know his daughter? Does she go to your school?” Davey asked as they exited the shop. Jack shook his head.

“Nah Ellie is only 10. But when you live here long enough, you start to know people.” Jack explained. 

“Have you lived here your whole life?” 

“Moved here when I was six. But since then I’ve been around town enough that I practically knew everyone. That is until you came along,” Jack joked, bumping Davey with his shoulder as they walked. 

“I wouldn’t know what that’s like. I grew up in Manhattan, so I almost never saw the same person on the street twice. Let alone their name and family,” Davey said.

It would make sense that Davey grew up in a big city, him being a bit more proper than the rest of town. Even the snobs at Brimstone got nothing on him. But Davey wasn’t a snob. No, he was just, smart. Really smart. 

“What was Manhattan like?” Jack asked. He had yet to experience life in the big city, really growing up here and then in an orphanage near the town. 

“Loud, crowded, people shoving you all the time. Mine and my little brother Les’ schools weren’t that far from home. So we’d walk home everyday. It was a struggle to keep Les from getting lost in the crowds,” Davey explained. The city didn’t seem nearly as great as Jack had been told by others. Then again maybe the others hadn’t lived in a city as long as Davey had. 

“You gotta be back by six right?” Davey nodded. “Well then we better get going!” Jack exclaimed, grabbing Davey’s free hand and pulling him down the street. Davey laughed and let himself be pulled along by Jack.

Jack lead Davey all around town. He should him the whole “downtown” area which was filled with shops and restaurants that Jack adored. They had gone to a little tea shop Jack thought Davey might appreciate (which he did). Finally they ended up at a little park near Kettle-ston lake. 

Sat atop the park’s monkey bars, they chatted about different things, Jack trying to learn more about Davey, and the other way around it seemed. 

“So you know I have a brother,” Davey started, swinging his legs that were dangled over the bars. “What about you? Any brothers or sisters?” He asked. 

“Yeah I got one foster brother, Crutchie. Though I don’t even call him my foster brother, he is my brother,” Jack explained. “We both gotta adopted when we were six. We were both scared shitless, but acted like each other’s rocks I guess. He’s the best brother I could ask for, even if it ain’t by blood.”

Crutchie has been there for him since day one. Jack couldn’t be more grateful for the kid. He always hoped he was doing a good enough job at being there for Crutchie as well, but he was never really sure. Crutchie promised him he was, but there will always be that doubt that Jack wasn’t doing enough for him. 

“Two things. One, that’s really sweet wow, I didn’t know there was that side of you Jack. Two, is his real name, your brother, Crutchie?” Davey asked. People always asked that when he brought up his brother’s name. Perhaps at this point, he should just start telling them Crutchie’s real name. 

“Well, there’s a lot of sides of me you haven’t seen,” Jack said, deciding against winking after a moments thought “and also no, it’s Charlie. When you meet him though you’ll understand why.”

“Is it because he uses a crutch?”

“Wow Davey you’re a smart one ain’t yeah?” Jack teased to which the other rolled his eyes. “But yeah, nobody knows why his leg is bum, he doesn’t tell nobody, and I haven’t tried prying yet.” 

He had brought it up once when they were kids. Crutchie’s bum leg had really been bugging him that day, getting him to a point of frustration Jack had never seen before. Their foster mom had to come grab them early from school that day. His brother had locked himself in their shared room the rest of the night. It took Jack going up the fire escape outside their window to get Crutchie to let him inside.

“Maybe you could try talking to him again. It has been years hasn’t it? Perhaps he’s ready to talk,” Davey suggested. Jack shrugged, considering it. He was worried about Crutchie going into his state that he had years ago. Seeing him like that made Jack feel horrible. He wouldn’t put him through that again.

“Shit Jack I’m so sorry. Katherine is expecting me to work on a project with her,” Davey explained, slowly climbing off the monkey bars. Climbing down after him, Jack stopped him before the boy started walking away.

“Lemme walk you there at least?” Jack asked, just looking for a way to spend a bit more time with Davey. He couldn’t help that he was crushing hard on him. When Jack got crushes, he crushed hard, and this was no different. But Davey was different. He was sweet, and smart, and just all around super cute. 

“Yeah, that would be nice.” He watched Davey’s face brighten with a smile at the offer, and that just made his stomach do a flip.

They walked to the library where Davey was to meet Katherine, side by side. Jack’s hand itched to grab Davey’s but he knew that would be a horrible idea. For one, the boy was more than likely straight, let alone into him. Jack didn’t want to jeopardize a friendship that had barely started. 

Still, he found himself walking close to Davey, but not close enough that the other would be weirded out. Jack asked more of Davey’s childhood, and Jack just avoided the questions about his by asking more about Davey’s. It was fascinating to hear about life in the city compared to that of a small time.

It felt as though no time had passed by the time they made it to the library. Katherine was waiting outside when they did arrive, books in hand along with a binder. She looked up at them as they approached, and her face hardened as she looked at Jack.

“Hi David, Jack,” Katherine greeted, nodding at them both in turn. “Jack are you joining us?” She asked, to which Jack shook his head. As much as he would jump on the opportunity to spend more time with Davey, his foster mother needed him home to help prepare for dinner.

“As much as I’d love to stay and watch you work on a boring history project, I need to be getting home.” Turning to Davey, Jack noticed the boy was looking disappointed. “Well Davey, I don’t know about you but I had a great time.”

“I did too Jack, thanks a lot,” Pausing, he looked as though he was contemplating his next words. “Sunday would you want to hang out again?” Asked Davey quickly. “If you want to of course, I understand if not-“

Cutting him off, Jack was grinning. “Yeah that would be great. I’ll see you Sunday, can’t wait.” As he started walking away, he felt someone grab his hand and turn him around. Davey was standing there, his cheeks slightly pink. In his hand was a pen, and the boy quickly wrote numbers down on Jack’s palm.

“My number, if you want to call me sometime,” Davey rushed out with a grin before turning away and trailing after Katherine into the library.

The walk back to his home, Jack would not stop smiling and couldn’t wait to tell Crutchie about his day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies!  
> I’m so sorry for the delay on this chapter.  
> This week has been a rough one for me with a lot going on. So I haven’t had the time nor motivation to finish this chapter. But it’s done!  
> As always comments/feedback are always appreciated :)  
> Have a good morning/day/night!  
> -Jackie


	4. An Explosive Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go a little downhill for our boys.

It had been just over a week since Jack took Davey around town. Since then, that day has been one of the only things on Davey’s mind. Well, that and every other time they’ve hung out since. Which is three times, not that Davey has been counting. 

Okay he totally has. His mind has been replaying every single time they’ve been together, and it makes Davey smile every single time. Every time the other would smile at him or nudge him with his shoulder, Davey would practically light up. Being around Jack was exhilarating. Even them just sitting there in his room listening to tapes felt exciting. He had never crushed this hard on a boy before, and that made him excited and scared. Which one was more present, he wasn’t sure.

“Dave? Are you listening?” Elmer queried from across the lunch table. Davey’s eyes immediately darted up from his hands, where he had been staring, lost in thought. His mind once again had travelled back to Jack Kelly and his blue eyes. He knew this was becoming an issue, but he found himself not caring.

“Yes, yeah of course. What were we talking about?” Asked Davey, willing his mind to pay attention this time. Elmer chuckled and shook his head at him. He felt Romeo from beside him nudge his side.

“You’ve been going off into space all break. What’s on your mind there, a pretty girl?” Romeo teased to which Davey’s cheeks turned pink. Quickly shaking his head he fumbled over his words.

“No that’s not it, it’s just I didn’t sleep much last night. My mom had me clean my room and then I had to help Les with his homework which took a while because they have this new weird way for math, which is really stupid in my opinion. I mean why can’t they just-“

“Relax Dave Romeo is only pushin’ your buttons,” Specs assured him from across the table. “But man, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use that mouth that much in such a small span of time. You can really talk when you get going.” For the second time, Davey’s cheeks turned pink.

He could talk a lot when he got going. So that’s what he tried to avoid doing. It was more of a self conscious thing than anything else. That people would listen to him drag on, and feel annoyance. Jack never seemed to mind though. With him, Davey would talk for minutes on end and Jack would just listen and smile. Once again, his mind was back on Jack Kelly.

Damn that Kelly kid. How was it that his only thoughts recently were of him. Of what they were gonna do next time they were together, or what they had done last time. Every conversation that had occurred ran through his mind on the daily, and every time he would smile. That damn Kelly kid always smile. 

“Good afternoon gentlemen,” Katherine chirped as she approached the table. She sat down next to Davey, setting her notebook and pen down in front of him. It was a thick brown leather note book with sticky notes peeking out all over it. Davey knew it as her “reporter journal”. The one that Katherine wrote every little detail of every article she had written or was going to write. 

Over the few weeks that had passed, Davey and Katherine had become good friends. Their shared project had allowed them to bond, and since then they had stayed tight. Davey would definitely at this point consider her one of his best friends. She was easy to talk to, had lots of ambition, and was fun to be around, once she let her guard down. Katherine was trusted with almost all of Davey’s secrets. That is except his growing crush.

He would tell her, and he really wanted to. It was just the fact Katherine seemed to loathe Jack. She rolled her eyes whenever he was around, and always had extra bite to her remarks when speaking to him. Davey knew she wouldn’t hate him if he were to tell her about his feelings. Katherine didn’t seem like the type to do that. But he was still nervous about it.

“Hey Kath, got the headline for today?” Davey asked. The moment she transferred here, Katherine had been put at the head of the School’s newspaper. Understandably too, anyone who read her articles knew she was amazing. 

“Well the cafeteria is going to start selling healthier options in place of their, less healthy choices. Such as their hot dogs. Those will be replaced with pasta salad,” Katherine explained. Romeo immediately gasped and slammed one of his hands down on the table, to which Elmer jumped out of surprise.

“This is an outrage!” Romeo exclaimed. “Those hot dogs are a blessing on Earth. They give this horribly grey life some damn colour!” The whole table rolled their eyes at his anger, but the boy just continued. “Plumber there outta be something you can do about this tragedy. I thinks with your status in this school, you have to be able to pull some strings, right?” He asked, which in return, Katherine shook her head.

“You thinks wrong Romeo,” She started, slightly mocking the other’s poor grammar. “But there’s nothing I can do.”

“Looks like you’re just gonna have to live with the fact you’re gonna have to start eating healthier pal,” Davey said, gesturing towards the salad in front of Elmer. “Like Elmer.” 

“He’s vegetarian, he has no choice but to eat those disgusting tree leaves.”

“Okay first of all, Romeo you know it’s lettuce. Two, it is not disgusting! It’s actually delicious if you would get your head out of the grease gutter for a moment and actually try it, you would like it,” Elmer snapped back, shoving a forkful of his salad into his mouth as if to prove his point. In response, Romeo flipped him the bird while sticking his tongue out.

“Boys if you are finished your quarrel about food, I have some other news that may interest you. Specifically about River county,” Katherine stated, opening up her journal. She flipped to a page with a green sticky note, which had the words “the war” on it. Immediately the four boys stopped chattering and peered in. Davey took a moment to admire the pristine and neat writing Katherine had.

“I heard from one of my sources that River county was going to be planning an attack, one unlike others from the past. Worse. It’s gonna be sooner than later apparently this week. So if you boys are gonna strike back you better do it quick. Before they do it first,” She explained, pointing to various notes written in the book. Davey gulped at what he was hearing. What on earth was Jack planning?

They had already returned two pranks to River County since the school year started. The first one was spray painting their entire mascot (a bear) neon yellow. The second was having Elmer sneak in and replace all their sports trophies with bald dolls. In place of their hair was the word “losers” written on each of their heads. It was not a pretty sight to behold.

Davey of course never participated in their pranks. He may or may not contribute ideas while they are on that topic. But he would never admit to doing so. It was his goal to stay out of trouble throughout the whole year in order to maintain his perfect record. At this point however, he could already see that going down the drain, What with the company he’s made.

“Well then we’ll get em’ back quicker and harder!” Elmer exclaimed to which the other two boys cheered. “Dave, any ideas?”

“Why are you asking me? It’s not like I ever go along with your harebrained schemes.”

“Yeah but you got the brains,” Romeo said, pointing at him with a plastic fork. “You come up with stuff none of us could ever think of. Your ideas have definitely made the top ten list for best pranks.”

Davey shook his head. It didn’t feel right being apart of these schemes when he was becoming so close to Jack Kelly. If we wanted to stay close, or get closer, he figured staying out of the pranks would be a good idea. But did Jack feel the same?

“Sorry boys, you’re on your own,” Davey said just as the bell signalling the end of lunch was over. “Katherine, walk to History with me?” The girl in question nodded and packed up her things. They said goodbye to the table and made their way to class.

“Do you really come up with their pranks?” Katherine asked. She had made it clear that whole she supported the war, Katherine would never willingly take part in it. 

“I mean sometimes. I’ve hinted at ideas for them to do, but never been apart of them. I’d still like a chance at graduating by the end of the year, something the boys might not be doing at this rate.” Katherine laughed lightly and bumped shoulders with him.

“You have to admit, this little war is entertaining. At least so far. I’d write a paper on it but I’d be too afraid of seeming biased to our own school.”

“A little bias never hurt anyone. Besides, isn’t it understandable to lean towards your own school more than the one it’s against?” He asked, which Katherine shrugged in response to. He could tell she knew he was right, but wasn’t about to admit it. “You should write it. You’re an amazing journalist and I think you could do a great article on it.”

“Maybe, I’ll think about it. But maybe you’re right, that it couldn’t hurt,” She mumbled, opening the door to their classroom.

That was when the fire alarm went off and chaos ensued. This couldn’t be a drill, they always did those once everyone was in the class and they were always told about them in advanced. In hindsight, that was a stupid way to prepare the students for a real fire, because at this moment, Davey had no clue what to do. 

The first thing he noticed was that there was smoke coming from the vents. The second thing he noticed was the smell. It was awful, like eggs that had been rotting for years. Davey let out a choked gag and covered his mouth with his sleeve. He watched as Katherine and other students in the hallway did the same. 

“Davey come on this way!” Katherine yelled from behind her sleeve. She grabbed on to Davey’s arm and pulled her towards a door. It opened towards a small garden that was surrounded by a brick wall. The smell had not made its way to the garden, so finally they both uncovered their mouths.

“Behind that wall is the football field, we just have to find a way to get over it,” Katherine explained, letting out a cough. 

“Well there’s got to be a ladder in here somewhere, come on let’s look.” Quickly both of them began scavenging the area for something to help them scale the wall. It wasn’t too long until Davey found an old rusted ladder behind tall sunflowers and vines. “Over here Katherine!” He called to her. 

Allowing her to climb up first, Davey quickly followed and soon they were over the wall. The whole school was gathered on the football field, trying to find their friends. It seemed as though nobody was hurt, which was a surprise what with all the chaos that erupted in the building prior to their escape.

“Kath, Davey there you guys are! We got worried!” He heard Specs call out to them. Turning he saw their little group off to the side. All three of the boys ran up to them, bewilderment written on their faces.

“Do any of you guys know what’s going on?” Davey asked them, to which all three shook their head. It seemed nobody had a clue what was happening, not even the teachers who were trying to keep track of their students. He saw their principal, Mr. Pulitzer, running around like a chicken with its’ head cut off. There were firefighters showing up, along with police and ambulance.

Multiple men in hazmat looking uniforms were seen getting out of a large black van and entering the school. A couple police approached Pulitzer and seemed to be asking him questions. A few more were talking to various students and teachers on the incident. Nobody seemed to have a clue on what had happened. Either that or they were good at pretending they were innocent.

“This is insane. Did you guys smell what was coming out of the vents? Elmer here puked up his leaves from lunch as soon as we got outside,” Romeo said, to which Elmer shook his head and coughed.

“I got a weak stomach, and that smell was awful. It was like a stink bomb or something was let off in there.” At Elmer’s words, a lightbulb lit up and Davey’s head. 

“I’ve got to motor fellas, but I’ll catch you later. Elmer feel better,” Davey muttered before walking away from the group. Katherine was heard calling after him, but he just ignored her and kept walking. He had an idea who caused the disturbance, but he was hoping that his assumption was wrong.

~~~

“So your my mother’s co-worker now huh?” Jack Kelly asked from behind him. Davey has been sitting on the steps of River County, waiting for Jack to emerge when the other has spoke. The boy was wearing a white shirt with a fake navy jacket over top, and Davey had to admit, he looked good. But that wasn’t the point of visit.

“I knew they wouldn’t have let you out otherwise, and I really needed to talk to you,” Davey said, standing up and facing Jack. He subconsciously ran a hand through his hair before folding it over his chest, attempting to look at least slightly serious.

“Alright well why don’t we get off school grounds then? Snyder ain’t gotta see me being chummy with my mom’s alleged co-worker,” Jack joked, nodding towards town. Davey quickly agreed and followed him, walking side by side with the other as usual. If Davey weren’t about to accuse Jack of setting off a stink bomb in their school, he could pretend it was a usual hang out.

The park quickly came into view after walking in silence for a bit. Bowery Park was like their sacred spot at this point. Almost everyday when they could, Davey would sit beside Jack on the monkey bars and talk with him. Their conversations would range from betting on how far they could through a tennis ball, to what their goals in life were.

Both boys climbed atop the monkey bars and faced one another per usual. Except this time, Davey’s posture was less relaxed, and more tensed. He folded his hands on his lap and his back was straight. Chewing on the inside of his lip, he finally looked at Jack and took a deep breath.

“Did you set off a stink bomb inside of Brimstone?” He asked, words rushed and uncertain. Jack immediately grinned and laughed slightly. Davey immediately cocked one eyebrow and crossed his arms. “What’s so funny?”

“Well yeah that was me. Well not me, Race was the one who got in and out per usual, and Albert got the stink bomb from who knows where. But yeah it was my idea. Jeez Davey I thought by your look, that there was something actually serious going on-“

Davey almost immediately cut him off once he could. “What do you mean actually serious? The fucking police, medics, and firefighters arrived at our school! Katherine and I had to scale a wall to get out! Elmer puked and others had puked their guts up from the smell! School was cancelled for the rest of the day! And you’re telling me it’s not a big deal? Unbelievable,” He spat out. 

Jack seemed taken aback by Davey’s words, judging by the way he sat up straighter and inched back slightly. “Davey you know I am apart of this war. You know I was gonna continue to be a part of this. And yet until now you didn’t seem to have a problem with it.”

“Yeah that was when it was little things like stealing the basketball team’s shorts or spray painting dicks on the school mirrors. Not full school evacuations!” Exclaimed Davey. He was practically fuming at that moment. How could this boy be so thick in the head that he couldn’t see what was wrong with what he did?

“Woah take it down a notch. It was just a harmless prank-“

“Not harmless, Elmer chucked his cookies.”

“He’ll live. But what I mean is nobody died or had to go to the hospital,” He said nonchalantly. Davey didn’t know what he thought would happen when he confronted him about this. He knew that Jack strong by all his pranks, like he said, they were his children. But maybe he had just thought he’d think twice if Davey was involved. Maybe though, Davey didn’t matter as much to Jack Kelly as he thought. 

“I was in that damn building Kelly. Or did you forget that I go there?” Jack looked like he had been about to interrupt but Davey just held up a hand to silence him. “I was scared. I didn’t have a clue what was going on, nobody did! Because you sent off a sucking stink bomb in the school. I shouldn’t even be having this kind of a conversation with a grown ass man. But dear lord you act like a child sometimes. Sometimes I think-“ Davey this time stopped himself before continuing. 

“You think what? Say it Jacobs. What do you think?” Jack asked, his tone coming out with more bite than before. 

“I think the kids at my school are right about you,” He finished. This caused Jack to have enough it seems as he started to climb off the monkeys bars. “Jack wait,” Davey said trying to calm his voice down. He hadn’t meant to upset the other per say. He was angry yes, and rightfully so. But Davey was not one to usually upset people this much. 

“Oh what, do you want me to wait so I can hear all the things they’ve said about me? Please go right on ahead. I’d love to hear it. How about how I’m a bastard, abandoned by his parents. Or how I’m a childish asshole who cares about nothing and nobody?” Jack spat back at him and started to walk away. Davey flinched at the harsh words, even if they weren’t directed at him. 

“No Jacky I didn’t mean-“ Davey started as he reached towards Jack, but he just kept walking.

“Save it Jacobs. Just leave me alone.” The other paused to look at him. “Stupid of me to think you were different from all the snobs at Shitstone. No, the whole lot of you are all the same.” Jack shook his head and left Davey standing there. 

Once he was out of earshot, Davey let out a groan and kicked the nearest garbage can. He ran his hands through his hair and slumped down against the playground slide. As if on cue, a raindrop hit his leg which just made Davey groan again. The universe officially sucked ass. Standing up, he brushed himself off and started to head home.

On his way back through town, he passed by the record store, which caused his stomach to twist into a knot. His hands balled into a fist as he continued to walk past, trying to not dwell on the old store as much as he’d like to. Besides, it wouldn’t do him any good, Jack wouldn’t be in there. His shift didn’t start for another two hours. Even if he was in there, he wanted nothing to do with Davey.

That hurt, more than he’d care to admit. Jack being angry with him was not something he had expected to face this morning. Then again, was he being hypocritical? He was the one who got angry with the other in the first place. But he had a right to be mad. The kid caused the police to show up!

Shaking his head again as to clear his thoughts, he soon arrived back at his home. His mother greeted him at the door as he stepped inside, fussing over how wet he had gotten. Assuring her he was fine, despite what happened, Davey set his bag down on the counter and went into his room.

Flopping down on to his bed, he immediately screamed into his pillow, attempting to get the anger out. It didn’t work, instead he just rolled on to his side and stared out the window. He watched a group of high school students walk past his house. Brimstone or River County, he wasn’t sure. But it didn’t matter. Nothing felt like it matter in that moment.

His eyes fixated on the landline phone sitting next to his bedside. One perk of moving is that his mom had agreed to let him have a phone in his room. Les had protested but eventually was won over with a promised trip to a car race. That phone is the same phone he’d used the last two weeks to call Jack at night. 

Davey resisted the urge to call Jack.

All night. 

By the end of the night, he has skipped dinner and stayed in his room. He had started pacing, just staring at the red landline. As if something snapped, he grabbed the phone and dialled the number he had memorized by now. 

After a few rings a woman, he recognized as Jack’s foster mom Medda, picked up. Medda chatted with Davey for a moment before telling him she’d go fetch Jack. He thought maybe for a moment that he’d be able to talk to Jack again, that is until Medda informed him that Jack supposedly had a lot of homework to do. Thanking her, Davey hung up and sighed, sitting back down on his bed. 

He had officially made enemies with River County it looked like, and that scared Davey just a bit. Until now he had managed to stay clear of River County’s attacks, thanks to Jack he assumed. But now, he wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Was Jack really petty enough to plan an attack against Davey? He wouldn’t doubt it.

“David?” A voice, belonging to his younger brother, came from his doorway. 

“Les go away,” Davey said, pretending to bust himself with a book. Les didn’t go away however, and instead sat down right beside his brother. “I said go away.”

“I know you did, I ain’t deaf,” Les responded. “I also ain’t blind. What’s wrong?” He asked, to which Davey shrugged. It couldn’t hurt telling someone what was going on. Even if it was a ten year old.

“I’m in a fight with a friend, and he doesn’t want to talk to me. He did something bad but won’t see it. So I got mad. He stormed off and now won’t answer my calls,” He explained, leaning back against the back board of his bed. Les crossed his legs and looked as though he was in thought.

“You could try buying him candy! That’s what I’ve done when my friends are mad at me. It seems to work!” Les chirped. Davey couldn’t help but laugh at that and nod.

“Yeah maybe I’ll try that, thanks Les.” His brother stood up and pulled a lollipop out of his pocket, handing it to him.

“Have a feel better lollipop,” Les said before leaving Davey’s room. He smiled and looked down at the orange sucker. 

If only an orange sucker was all it took to fix his situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! So sorry for the delay again! Things have been hetic at school for me the last little bit. But here it is, our first little bit of angst. I’m sorry but it had to be done  
> As always, comments and or feedback is always appreciated. You can also reach me at my tumblr: Theother9600  
> Have a good morning/afternoon/night!  
> -Jackie


	5. Breaking News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The news of what’s going on behind closed doors at River County and Brimstone finally comes to light

Jack wasn’t sorry for what had happened.  
Well that’s not true. He was sorry he hadn’t been able to get more into the argument before he had stormed off. But for the actual argument? For what he had said? Not one bit. He meant it all. About Davey being like all the others. About not being sorry for what he had done. 

The other deserved what he was getting in Jack’s opinion. Davey’s words had been like a slap to the face. It stung like one too, and was still stinging even a week and a half later. The words followed him wherever he went. Hung over him like a thick black blanket that was determined to suffocate him. It wound tighter and tighter every day that he avoided Davey Jacobs. 

What had been said by him hadn’t even been that bad. He had heard worse from others. From students at Brimstone, and even inside his own school. It’s because it was Davey. Sweet, nerdy Davey who always found a way to bring a smile to Jack’s face. Davey who always listened to him without judging in the slightest. Or maybe he was, and he was just a good actor.

He didn’t know anymore. All Jack knew was that even a week and a half later, he was still furious. Everyone around him could clearly see it on his face, Crutchie could see it in his art, and Jack could feel it in his gut. 

Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe this situation was so much smaller than it was. But to Jack, it was the world. For someone he just met roughly a month ago, Jack had put a lot of trust into the other boy. That damn Jacobs kid was just too trustworthy.

He missed that damn Jacobs kid. More than he cared to admit. Whether the anger or longing he felt for the other was stronger, that was a mystery. He felt the latter whenever he walked past the Jacobs’s home on his way to the record store. There was even once Les Jacobs and a girl came into the record store and Jack had to hide in the back until they left.

Still, he refused to go see him. No matter how many times Crutchie told him to. No, his sole focus was not focusing on Davey Jacobs for much longer. Though that proved to be more difficult than it should be. Especially when one of the main conversations in his group was on the school the other went to.

“It was tricky,” Race began, describing the stink bomb massacre at lunch. A large crowd of kids had gathered the next week to hear more about how he did it. By now though it was old news to the gang, especially Jack. “But that school was big, nobody was noticin’ whether or not you’re a really student there. Getting into the air vents was the tricky part.” That was when Jack started zoning out, which Crutchie almost immediately noticed. 

“Hey Jack I gotta grab my history textbooks from my locker. Be a pal and help me out?” Crutchie asked, nudging him with his crutch. 

“Yeah of course Crutch, fellas we’ll be back,” He said, grabbing his own bag and following his brother to his locker. 

“What’s been the matter? You’ve been moping around this past week, especially whenever the prank is brought up. Did something happen?” Crutchie asked. The truth was Jack hadn’t talked to his brother about what happened. He figured the best way to forget about Davey was to not talk about him. To his dismay, that plan had not been working in the slightest.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. I’m fine really. Let’s just get your books,” Jack assured him.

“See Jack that’s where I’m gonna call bull. Not only do I know you well enough to know when you’re in a sour mood, but also I ain’t even have History this term. You’d usually know that but you’s is stuck in your own thoughts so much that you’re not even paying attention to life around you.” Crutchie stopped walking and turned to him. “Now tell me what’s going on before I go to mum.”

“Snitches get stitches.”

“Like I ain’t used to em’.”

“Alright fine,” Jack sighed, leaning against a locker. “Davey goes to to Brimstone yeah? Well after the little prank we did, he became real mad. Like I don’t think I’ve seen him that mad. He said some things to me, and it ain’t even like the things he said were that bad! It’s cause it was him, and Crutchie I really thought he was different you know? But he went and had to ruin it all by being a snob like the rest of em’.” He had to admit, it felt good to finally vent his feelings about his problem to someone. Especially Crutchie.

“Have you tried talking to him since? Or has he apologized?” Crutchie inquired, leaning against the opposite wall in order to take weight off of his good leg for a bit.

“No, I haven’t let him. Don’t wanna here from the asshole. Don’t want to give him a chance to insult me even further.”

“You don’t know he’s gonna do that Jack.”

“It doesn’t matter anyways. I’ve made up my mind, I’ll avoid him as long as I can and that’s final,” Jack stated, crossing his arms over his chest as if he was a grounded toddler. Crutchie simply sighed and shook his head, knowing his brother was a lost cause. Once Jack’s mind was set on something, it seemed there was no chance in changing it.

“You’re as stubborn as an ox,” His foster mum would say to him. Jack would just laugh at how old she sounded when she’d say things like that.

“Whatever you say. But you know I’m always here right? You don’t need to go through anything alone,” Crutchie assured him. Jack just nodded.

“Alright ya big sap,” He said as the bell signalling the end of, what had seemed to be very long, lunch. “Wanna come to the record store with me after? I got a long shift and it’d be nice to have some company.”

Crutchie shook his head. “My math teacher’s been busting us with loads of home work. Plus mum wants help with dinner tonight, sorry.” He apologized, which Jack just shrugged and assured that it was fine.

“I’ll just suffer alone then I guess.” Crutchie just chuckled and nudged him lightly. “I’ll catch you later Crutch,” Jack said, heading off in the opposite direction from his brother. 

His Art classroom was on the same floor as the cafeteria, so the walk wasn’t that far. Once he arrived however, he was greeted by Albert standing atop of a tall chair with a broom in hand, while Jojo stood atop another table, yelling and pointing at the floor. Jojo’s face was pale as if he had just seen a real ghost, and he looked like he was trying to get out of his skin if that were possible.

“Kill it god damn it!” Jojo yelled to Albert. In retaliation Albert threw the broom at him which hit the ground with a thud.

“You do it if you want it killed so bad!”

“Gentlemen what the fuck is going on?” Jack asked, stepping further into the classroom. Albert held up his hand, signalling him to stop moving. Jack stood still and looked around the classroom. Finally he spotted a slightly large gross looking bug crawling slowly on the ground. 

“Oh my god,” He mumbled, shaking his head at both of his friends.

Eventually the bug was killed by their teacher, and the chaos caused by it simmered down. Albert had to practically lift Jojo off the desk and on to the ground in order to get him down. The latter boy’s face had turned red as it happened, but didn’t resist it. He also said nothing as Jack laughed, and decided flipping him off was a more appropriate response. 

~~~

The rest of Jack’s day has passed by in somewhat of a blur. A boring one for that matter. His last class of the day had been drama, which he was only taking in order to get all of his credits done. Not that he didn’t mind being the centre of attention once in a while, and drama offered that. Despite it being a not-so-horrible class, it had seemed to drag on for hours. 

However, with the end of the school day, came the start of his work shift. The record store was a great place to work at in retrospect. There were no complicated orders he had to remember, or awful customers to deal with. Despite the chatter of random customer throughout the evening, and the faint sound of a record being played, it was quiet. It was nice. 

That night the store had been a bit busier than usual. There had been a constant flow of people coming up to the register to pay for their records or other merchandise sold in the store. Until fifteen minutes before closing which was at 9:00pm, Jack hadn’t had a break. It wasn’t as though his job was excruciatingly tiring, but by the end of his shift, he was ready to retire for the night.

After taking stock of all the inventory, Jack closed up the cash and began securing the store for the night. Stepping outside, he gently shut the glass door and began to lock it up. What a wonder it was, the fact his boss trusted him with the store’s keys when he barely trusted Jack to count properly.

“Um excuse me?” He heard a man say from behind him. Without even looking Jack just finished locking the door and said,

“Sorry pal the store’s closed for the night. It’ll be open at two o’clock tomorrow though,” Jack responded as if on instinct. It wasn’t until he turned around that he realized, this man, scratch that, boy, wasn’t interested in when the store was closing. “You,” He practically sneered, “what the hell do you want?”

Davey looked taken aback. He stepped back slightly and frowned. “Jack I just wanted to talk and couldn’t get out of the house until now and-“

“Save it Jacobs. I ain’t in the mood to be talking to you.”

“Jack just listen,” Davey begged before Jack cut him off again.

“No you listen,” He began, pointing a finger right at the other. “I don’t take nicely to people insulting me. Calling me names. But I’ve dealt with it. You know why? Cause I’ve had to, I had to grow up the god damn day I was placed in a foster home. The day my parents left me at my neighbour’s doorstep at age three. Do you know what the does to a kid? It fucks them up real bad Jacobs,” Jack had to stop talking for a moment in order to suppress tears. He’d be damned if he cried now.

“So since then I’ve dealt with every snide remark or joke about my upbringing. But hearing it from you. That hurt the most. Don’t ask me why on Earth it did. Because I can’t answer that, not like you deserve any answer anyways. And another thing-“

“Jack shut up for a minute.”

“You have no right to be telling me to-“ Jack was promptly shut up by a hand, Davey’s, pressing against his mouth. He opened his eyes wide in surprise and tried to protest as he was dragged into an alleyway beside the record store. 

Once the hand was removed, Jack went to argue before Davey put a finger to his lip, signalling for him to be quiet. They stood there a moment, both their backs pressed tightly against a brick wall, hearing nothing but each other’s breaths. That’s when Jack heard what Davey must’ve been hearing, two men talking. 

Their voices were quickly approaching down a better lit alleyway across the street. Squinting, he was able to make out the figure of what appeared to be his Principal, talking with a taller and thinner man. The taller man was more well dressed, with a tailored suit and shined boots. Compared to Snyder, he looked like he could be the president.

“Is that Spider?” Jack whispered, anger forgot for a moment.

“And that’s Pulitzer, my Principal,” Davey responded, his eyes glued to the principals. The two men continued to speak as the crossed the street, getting closer to the two boys. 

Jack felt Davey silently tug on his sleeve, and both of them crouched down into the darkness. He held his head higher and motioned for Davey to do the same. That trick was something that he had learned in order to make breathing quieter and smoother. Though why exactly they were hiding from the two men, Jack wasn’t sure. 

“It will be beneficial for both of us Warren,” The Brimstone Principal said to the other. “And you shouldn’t worry about the students, their parents will pay for them to get an education. Matters to much to them. We’ll still get a good pay, if not better.”

The men stopped walking and were almost standing right in front of Jack and Davey now. He felt his heart beating out of his chest. Even while they weren’t doing anything illegal or wrong, it would still be ground for suspicion to find the two of them crouching in the alleyway, eavesdropping on a conversation.

“So with this new school, the students gotta pay for enrolment, textbooks, and for other resources?” Snyder asked, to which Pulitzer nodded and pointed a finger at the other.

“And you sir, will be in no more debt. They will have no choice but to enroll at this school. There is no other school close enough to ship them all too. These parents will be stuck, needing their children to get an education. Their money will be forked over, and into our pockets,” Pulitzer explained, and Snyder seemed to be seriously considering it. 

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There would be a new school, they were forced to pay to go to, with no way out of it. His family didn’t have the money! Him and Crutchie’s mum couldn’t pay for both of them in this fancy new school. He had half a mind to stand and demand to speak to both the principals that moment. 

As if Davey could read his mind, he tugged on Jack’s sleeve again and shook his head. Jack just bit down hard on his lip and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to process what he was hearing. They couldn’t be doing this to them. To all the families who barely have enough food to put on the table. Let alone to pay for their childrens’ educations.

“You have a deal Joe,” Snyder said at last, extending his hand for the other to shake. Pulitzer grasped it, grinning widely, and gave it a shake.

“Fantastic, I’ll have my secretary Hannah drop off the paperwork by the end of the week. There are still some, details, that need to be worked out. Of course you will be informed of any and all changes,” He said. 

The two men exchanged goodbyes, before going separate ways. Once it was confirmed they were far enough way, Jack stood up and pulled Davey up with him. His hands were closed tight into fists, and began to shake slightly. Davey just stood against the wall, not saying anything and jus watching Jack begin to pace. 

“They can’t just do that!” Jack finally yelled. “Why, hardly anybody got the kind of money to pay to go to school! Some days they ain’t even got money to feed themselves, and they expect us to pay!” 

“And for what? So Pulitzer can stuff his pockets with even more money than he’s already got? Greedy fucking pigs,” Jack spat, finally stopping his pacing. Turning to Davey, he furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the other. “What nothing to say? Or do you not gotta worry about money like the rest of us huh mister rich guy?”

Davey frowned and shook his head. “No Jack that’s not it. Listen I don’t know what you think you know about me and my family, but you got it wrong. But that’s not even the point. Of course I’m worried about this, it isn’t fair like you said,” Davey explained, standing up straight.

“They can’t just go doing that, making us pay for our education out of our own pockets you’re right,” He continued, “But what can be done to stop it?”

“There’s gotta be something that can be done! I mean, I know I ain’t paying no tuition to pay for what should be free education, and I know other kids will back me up on this.”

“Tell me then Jack, what could we possibly do?” Davey asked, to which Jack crosses his arms and glared once again at the other.

“There is no “we” in this. In case you’ve forgotten, I don’t associate with snobbish assholes,” He stated. Just because they were the only ones who knew about these new plans, doesn’t mean Jack was gonna suddenly forgive Davey. 

“Jack listen, if you want to accomplish anything, you’re gonna need more people than yourself.”

“Yeah and I got my friends and the people at River county.” It was almost certain his friends would back him up on this. He didn’t need Davey.

“What about the kids at my school? Are you forgetting that it’s not only your school that’ll have to pay?” The other asked.

“The whole lot of you all got enough money to spare and then some. Or did you spend it on your yearly trip to Europe?” 

“Enough Jack!” Davey finally snapped. “For someone who is pissed off at me for judging, your awfully quick to do the exact same thing to me. So get your head out of your ass for a moment and just listen,” He demanded, and Jack listened for once, it looked like he had no choice. 

“Look, kids at my school believe it or not , have financial troubles too. They won’t be able to pay any more than kids at yours’ could. So I know once everyone finds out, River County won’t be the only school having an uproar,” Davey explained. 

Jack knew Davey was right, even if he didn’t want to admit it. There would be chaos at both schools when the news got out of what would be happening. But what was happening? Would they just be completely demolishing both schools? If so, how long did they have? 

Even with knowing the other was right, Jack still felt reluctance to work with Davey. His arms remained crossed and he looked everywhere except the face of the boy in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he watched Davey begging to fiddle with the hem of his jacket before sighing.

“Jack, I’m sorry, I really am. I was mad, upset at what had happened. It was just, I don’t know I thought,” Davey paused, contemplating what to say next. He shook his head and sighed again before looking back at Jack. 

“Look it doesn’t matter what I was thinking. But I didn’t mean what I said, I really didn’t. You’re nothing like what they say. Not meaning to sound like a broken record, but I am sorry, truly,” He apologized. There was sincerity in his voice, that was clear as day. 

But, there was still that part of Jack that was running away from Davey. The part that was putting a wall between him and the other. That part was telling him not to trust him. However, there was still the urge to just forget everything and go running back to the other. To regain the lost friendship. 

“We have to work together anyways. So I’ll forgive you for the sake of the boys and girls that are counting on someone to stop this screwed up plan before it can even begin.” Davey seemed to understand this and just nodded, though he did not look entirely happy at Jack’s decision. 

“Can we meet after your shift tomorrow? I can talk to my friends about this and you talk to yours. We can figure out some sort of approach for this and then involve the others,” Davey suggested. By others, Jack knew he meant not only his school, but Davey’s as well.

That thought put him at unease. He knew that reputation he had over there, and was proud of it. But actually being confronted by them all, it made Jack’s stomach drop slightly. Like always though, he could take it. He would have to if he wished to change anything.

“Yeah, yeah alright that’s fine,” Agreed Jack after a moment’s thought. A small smile appeared on Davey’s face that made Jack wish he could see more of them. More smiles from the other, that was one thing he hadn’t been able to see this past week. 

“Let me walk you home? I mean it’s already dark and wouldn’t want you getting lost right?” Jack asked before even thinking it through. For someone who was supposedly still upset with the other, he didn’t do a good job at sticking with it. 

“That’d be fine,” Davey said, and there was that damn smile again. 

Davey began walking, and Jack followed right beside. The night was cool, there being a light autumn breeze that was pushing Jack’s hair back. for the first time in a while, the sky was completely clear, except for the quarter moon in the sky and the stars that accompanied it.

Their town was beautiful in that moment. There were a few others out and about. A few couples laughing and leaning one one another, looking truly happy. That made Jack’s heart yearn for what they had. But instead he ignored it and focused on the scene around him. 

“It’s really nice out tonight,” Davey said, as if once again reading Jack’s thoughts “It’s been nothing but raining and cold the last few weeks. Nice to see a change.”

Jack wouldn’t say it out loud, but he wondered if this weather change, had anything to do with the company he was with. If it were due to the fact he was there with Davey again, and not at home wishing things were different. But no he couldn’t say that out loud. So instead he settled for just agreeing with him. 

“Les has been asking about you.”

“Yeah? What about me?”

“When you’re gonna come over next. He got some new toys for his birthday that he wants to show you. He misses you.”

“I’ve missed Les too. Tell him I’ll be over Friday, if I’m invited.”

That smile again.

“Friday, yeah Friday should be good, great.”

“Great,” Jack repeated as they approached Davey’s home. “This is your stop.”

“Yeah it is,” Davey paused, considering his next words, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jackie.”

Jack couldn’t help but grin at the nickname. “See you tomorrow Davey.”

As the other turned away and walked up the driveway, he realized one thing. No matter how hard he tried, or how much he avoided the other, Jack Kelly could not stay mad at Davey Jacobs for long. 

Davey could step on Jack’s heart again and again, and Jack would still be there. He’d still come back to the tall, adorable, book loving boy. That scared him, but he knew it was true despite the reluctance to admit it.

He was too far gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies!  
> Sorry for this being even later than usual! This weekend was busy and I wasn’t home to write. Sorry for any spelling mistakes, I did a quick check over but wanted to get it published.  
> As always comments are always appreciated!  
> Have a great morning/day/night  
> -Jackie


	6. Strike!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! I’ve been so busy with Christmas activities that I’ve hardly had time to write. But I’m glad that it’s finally done!  
> As always comments are always appreciated  
> And I hope you enjoy!  
> Have a great morning/day/night!  
> -Jackie

It had been almost two months since Davey had moved into his new home. While he was for the most part used to it by now, there were still certain things he had trouble adapting to. Such as there being a laundry shoot to the basement instead of having to bring it all the way down, or having a dishwasher instead of doing it by hand.

But the one thing he was having trouble getting used to the most, was there being a ladder leading right up to his bedroom window. His house was a bungalow that included a single loft. That loft was Davey’s room, and the biggest room in the house. He has fought Les for it and eventually won saying his brother could have it when he moved out for college.

His room was great. But the first time someone came up the ladder outside his window, Davey screamed. It had been his dad who just thought the whole thing was hilarious and was just telling him that dinner was ready. Davey begged him to use the stairs like a normal human being the next time.

The second time someone came up the ladder, he hadn’t been any less startled. It was the next day after he had seen Jack, and the boy had climbed up the ladder and knocked on his window. He hadn’t noticed the figure standing there until he heard a loud bang.

Jumping up from his spot at his desk, Davey turned towards his window to see Jack leaning against it with a grin. Scowling, he made his way over and opened it up enough for Jack to climb inside. The other boy did so, closing it once he was in. 

“Why didn’t you just use the door?” Davey asked, exasperated at Jack’s actions. With Jack doing something like this, it felt like things were back to normal. Which was a nice feeling. He had missed Jack and his antics.

Even so, even after his apology, the fight made him feel, uneasy. Not being one to want things to drag on longer than necessary, Davey had apologized quickly. Taking the blame for it all. Though we wondered if he should’ve done that, after all, it wasn’t entirely his fault. For now, he figured it best to just let things move forward past what had occurred, and hopefully Jack felt the same.

“Door’s no fun is it? You got a perfectly good ladder, might as well use it to my advantage,” Jack said. He walked over to the desk Davey had been working at and leaned against it, folding his arms over his chest. “Also we got some matters to discuss about some recent, plans, that were discovered right?”

Davey nodded at this. There was no way he could’ve forgotten about what they had learned last night. It had taken most of his willpower not to go racing to Katherine’s house right after it had happened. That, he knew, would not have been a good idea. Both Jack and Davey wanted to figure out some sort of game plan before they even involved anyone else. Before chaos ensued. 

“Yeah, but not here. I don’t want my mum and dad hearing about this yet. They’ve got enough stress as it is,” Davey said. He opened his bedroom door and yelled down to his mother, telling her that he was going out with Jack.

“Be home at before dinner at five David!” She called back. He obliged to her rules, scrambled out the window and climbed down the ladder after Jack. 

They walked down the street, and Davey knew where they were headed without even having to ask. It was Davey’s absolute favourite spot in town. He adored every single memory of sitting there with Jack, talking until the sun went down. Well, every single memory except the most recent one of them there.

“Davey, how have uh, how have you been?” Jack asked, breaking the silence after a while of walking. That made him realize that they really hadn’t spoken at all for a week. He was so used to Jack knowing everything about his life, that going from that, to the other knowing nothing, felt strange. 

“I’ve been, fine, good I guess,” He responded, knowing his lie was able to be read on his face like an open book. Lying had never been his strong suit so getting away with things as a child had been off the table. But even if Jack could tell, the other didn’t say anything. 

“That’s good. Well me, me I’ve been fine too,” Jack said. The conversation dropped there, and was replaced with an awkward silence. Davey wanted to break it, make things go back to normal, but didn’t know how. Luckily it seemed Jack was thinking the same thing. 

“Okay so Race volunteered to be a guide for the freshmen right? And so this puny in his group just disappears, so Race starts freaking out,” and just like that Jack launches into a story. Davey would once and a while add in his own comment, but other than that he just listened. It felt like how things were before, which was good, great.

Soon though they were at the park, and the weight of what they were really there to talk about. He climbed up the monkey bars, across from Jack and sat facing the small lake near where they were. Jack joined him a second later and sat rat beside him. Ahead, he watched as a toddler chased a colony of seagulls, and couldn’t help but smile.

“Okay so, should we talk about the elephant in the room?” Jack asked, to which Davey nodded

“Yeah, look I was thinking about it all night. What can we do? We’re just kids Jack. These are two full grown men. One of which is the richest man in this town right?” Jack was silent, which Davey took to mean he was correct.

“We’re both seventeen. We can’t even vote yet. What makes you think we can stop their plans huh?” Davey really wasn’t sure what they could do. As he said, they were just children. Children who have no business trying to take down the most powerful man in Kettleston.

“I don’t know Dave. But I can’t just sit back and watch this unfold you know? I’ve personally lived through not having any money to put on the table for everyone. So seeing this happen, to kids who ain’t got a nickel to their name. We have to show em’ that we’re not gonna be okay with this. I just have to do something,” Jack sighed, swinging his legs slightly over the side. He looked over at Davey, and for a moment, Davey was able to see a scared little boy behind the cocky exterior Jack put on for everyone.

“I know Jack, I know you do. But these kids and us, we can’t just not go to school,” He said, and that’s when Jack’s eyes lit up.

“Well why not?” 

Davey raised an eyebrow at him. “Because we need an education Jack. That’s what this is all about isn’t it?”

“Yeah yeah I know. But it wouldn’t be forever. If we could get enough kids to refuse to go to school, then maybe Pulitzer and Spider will take the hint that he can’t go doing shit like this.” Jack swung his legs over the bars so that he was full facing Davey now.

“I mean think about it. How would they expect us to go to school when we have to pay, if we refuse to go when it’s free? They won’t make any money, which is what the pigs are after anyways. It could work!” He exclaimed, looking hopeful again. 

Davey frowned slightly at Jack’s plan. There was so many things that could go wrong with it, he didn’t even know where to begin. Skipping school, especially in their last year of school, was not a grand idea. All Davey had wanted since the first day of senior year was to graduate with flying colours. Then with that, get into a good college. That plan, when mixed with Jack’s however, was like mixing water and oil.

“I don’t, Jack that’s not what I was suggesting. What about the consequences that come with skipping school? You know nobody’s parents are going to let them actually miss school for this right?” He queried. 

It was evident to him that his parents especially would never allow him to miss school. Only for important reasons could he miss any school. This reason in their eyes, would not be seen as important. They’d tell him to just leave it up to the grown ups. Which really, would be the smart idea. Smart ideas seemed to me out the window at this point though.

“The parents ain’t gotta know their kids aren’t going to school,” Jack began as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. But Davey wasn’t exactly following. The other could tell that he wasn’t exactly convinced, and continued.

“Look leave it to me, but I know somebody that can get in and out of anywhere in record time,” He said, and Davey of course knew he was talking about Racetrack Higgins, whom he only knew from Jack’s stories. 

“Jack I still don’t know.” The probability of this not working, was quite a bit higher than it actually working. Biting the inside, he looked away from Jack, thinking over what the other was proposing. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, one that belonged to Jack Kelly.

“This will work Davey, I swear it,” He promised, and the sincerity in his voice made Davey really want to believe him. For a moment he just looked down at the hand on his shoulder that hadn’t moved and blushed slightly. “It has to.”

“If you swear it, I guess I have to go along with it. If I don’t I won’t hear the end of it will I?” Grinned Davey. A chuckle came from Jack who promptly removed the hand from his shoulder. Whether Davey missed the contact or not, he wouldn’t dare admit it aloud. 

“No you will not. But it’s good to know you’re on board,” Jack said, smiling brightly back at Davey. His own heart fluttered as for a moment, they both just looked at each other, smiling. Finally Davey had to look away, but didn’t wipe the smile off his face quite yet.

“Well then,” Jack began, “We need to tell the others, like you said. My friends, I know for sure will want to help.”

“Mine too I think. I know Romeo is always down for everything. The other two, Specs and Elmer will be too I’m sure. Katherine however,” Davey trailed off slightly. While he definitely considered Katherine his closest friend at school, and likes to think he knew a lot about her, he wasn’t sure whether or not she’d be up for something like this. 

Like Davey, school was important to Katherine. That’s one of the reasons they had become so close. They knew the struggles each other faced when it came to always wanting to get good grades and succeed. Katherine he knew wanted to be a journalist, and Davey a college professor , and this plan may jeopardize both of those dreams.

“Nevertheless, they’ll be there,” He said, hoping that his friends in fact would be. They’d have to be. Jack and him couldn’t do this alone, if Davey could even help at all. 

There was a very minuscule chance his parents would even allow him to miss school, even for a good cause. That thought reminded him of the fact that he did need to be getting home soon, despite his wishes to stay here with Jack longer. Looking down at the watch on his wrist, he saw he had twenty minutes to get home. Which was fine since it wasn’t that far of a walk.

“My parents need me home for dinner soon. I better get going if I wanna leave the house again anytime soon,” Davey said, slowly climbing down the ladder of the monkey bars. As he did, a small idea popped into his head. “Hey, why don’t you come over for dinner? I mean my mom always loves the chance to show off her cooking to someone new,” He suggested. 

Jack climbed down the bars, looking as though he was conflicted. He looked away from Davey for a moment and ran a hand through his hair. Was it a bad idea to invite him over? At the time it didn’t seem like a bad idea. Really it still didn’t. But the longer Jack went without answering, the more worried Davey became. Finally Jack looked back at him.

“Davey I’d love to but I really don’t wanna be a bother to your family,” He said, shaking his head. 

“Jack you won’t be a bother! Really, I mean they already all love you, especially Les. I promise, they’d love to have you there,” Davey insisted. “Plus I’d love to have you there,” He added, offering a small smile. 

“Alright I’ll come,” Agreed Jack after another moment’s thought. Davey smiles brighter before beginning the walk home beside the other. 

Their walk home was comfortable silence, unlike the one of their walk there. Davey once in a while would glance over at Jack, and feel his stomach flip as if it were his first time meeting Jack again. He knew nothing would ever happen between them.  
That just was not a thing that happened, regularly.

Sure there was the odd case of two men or women together, but it was in no case largely accepted. Hell, getting married wasn’t even legal for them. That was a hard pill for Davey to swallow every time he thought of it. Though that thought was one that often plagued his mind. 

“Dave, you alright?” Jack asked him. He realized that a frown had replaced the smile that had just been there. Nodding, he forced himself to think of something else and put a smile back on to his face. 

“Yeah yeah, I just thought of an English project I need to work on soon,” Davey lied. He knew he was a bad liar, so he didn’t know why he even bothered. Jack just raised an eyebrow at him.

“English huh? Tell me this, why’re you workin’ on an English project, when you don’t even have English this semester?” Davey looked away sheepishly at that. 

“You remembered me telling you about my class schedule?”

“I remember just about everything you’ve told me about yourself.” Jack shrugged as if it were no big deal. Which, maybe it wasn’t. But the fact that he supposedly remembered so much? Davey couldn’t help but blush.

“Alright well, what’s my favourite colour?” He asked, continuing their walk home.

“Royal blue.”

“When’s my birthday?”

“November 14th.”

“What do I want to be when I’m older?”

“College professor.”

Davey raised his eyebrows after all of Jack’s answers, impressed that he did indeed remember quite a bit about him. It was endearing. Then again, Jack probably remembered the same things about his other friends.

“Lucky guesses Kelly” He said, which Jack laughed at.

“Yeah you wish Jacobs,” The other responded as they approached Davey’s house. “Shit I should’ve probably asked my mum,” Jack cursed. 

“You can call her on my phone. I can always give you a lift home.” Jack nodded and thanked him before they went inside. “Mom, Dad, I’m home, and I brought Jack!” He called out to his parents. Immediately they were greeted with Les, racing out of his room and hugging Jack tightly.

“Hi Jack!” Les exclaimed. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you been over? Do you like my hat?” His questions came a mile a minute. Davey pulled his younger brother off of his friend and pulled the hat from atop his head.

“It’s my hat Les, and you didn’t ask to wear it, as for Jack not being here-“

“I’ve been studying hard for school, just like your brother here does,” Jack said, cutting off Davey mid sentence. “But I promise I’ll be around more now.” 

Les seemed content with his answer, as he soon left them alone right after he stole Davey’s hat back. They boys went into Davey’s room where Jack called his mom. She chatted with him for a moment before confirming that he was fine to stay at the Jacobs’ for dinner. After he hung up, Jack flopped back on to Davey’s bed with a grin.

“My mum says hello and that you’ll have to come over to my house for dinner sometime,” He said, setting the phone back down.

“Gladly. Her cooking his amazing.” Davey loved Jack’s house. Miss Medda was so kind to him, and his foster brother Crutchie was just equally as kind. He had only been there twice since he’d met Jack, but he already felt comfortable there. Perhaps it was just due to the company he was with. 

His mom not too long after called them down for dinner. Jack per always acted like a gentleman around his parents, and incredibly good to Les. It made Davey smile whenever he’d see Jack become goofy with his younger brother. At one point after dinner Jack hoisted Les on to his shoulders while Les cheered, and Davey just about swooned. 

His parents had forced both boys plus Les to play monopoly with them after dinner. Davey had always been good at this game, and generally won. So you could imagine the wave of shock that came upon him when Jack beat everyone by a mile. Les had afterwards admitted to slowly stealing their dad’s money throughout the game, and had immediately been scolded. Their mother had just congratulated Jack on a good win, and allowed the boys to leave.

“I think my family likes you more than I do,” Davey said, as the two of them sat on Davey’s roof after the game. Technically, they were not aloud up there, but his family had gone for ice cream and the two of them had decided to hang back. 

“Impossible. I mean you’re like a model child. I swear my mom wants me to be more like you,” Jack joked, nudging Davey’s shoulder with his own. 

“No way, Jack you’re like the perfect guy.” He hadn’t meant that to be anything except a thought in his head. Nevertheless, Jack seemed to take it as a joke and laughed. Whether the red that was present on his cheeks was just a figment of Davey’s imagination, he wasn’t entirely sure.

“Thanks Dave. Hey look,” Jack started, turning his full body towards Davey now. “I never said sorry for what happened.” Davey went to cut him off and explain that he didn’t need to do that, but Jack just kept talking instead.

“You’d been right, I had forgotten that you went to Brimstone. Cause you’re not like the other guys there. You’re the only person from there who hasn’t wanted to kill me at some point. You’re a good guy, and that scared me I guess.” Jack said, now refusing to look at Davey, in favour of staring at the setting sun.

“How did me being a good guy scare you?” Asked Davey. 

“I figured that at some point you’d choose the people at Brimstone over me. The people like you. I really didn’t want that to happen you know?” Davey nodded at that. He constantly had the exact same fear as him. “As you got nicer, the worse that fear got. Then when everything happened, I thought that that was finally happening, that you did choose Brimstone over me.”

 

Setting a hand hesitantly down on the other’s shoulder. “That’s not gonna happen Jack, I swear,” Davey promised. Jack finally looked back at him and smiled lightly, looking significantly less tense than before. In an instant though, Davey was pulled in close to the other. It took him a second to realize he was being hugged, and when he did he immediately sighed and wrapped his arms around the other. 

The contact felt nicer than Davey would like to admit. They stayed close for a moment before Jack finally pulled away. Davey was sure his grin was matching that of the other’s. Neither boys said anything as they turned away and watched the sun slowly disappear over the horizon. He knew Jack would have to leave soon, but couldn’t help but wish that the other could stay.

That they could stay up all night, watching the stars and just talking. He would give so much to be able to spend that time with Jack. But sure enough, not too long later, they were climbing back through Davey’s window and standing back in his room. 

“Gather who you can for tomorrow,” Jack said, putting back on his jacket following Davey outside, and on to his front porch. “I’ll do the same. We can meet at the park like always.”

“Yeah that sounds good, great. You sure you don’t need me to walk home?” He asked. It felt natural for them to walk each other home now, but Jack had insisted against it.

“Your parents will be home soon, they’ll want you home,” Explained Jack, shaking his head. He patted Davey on the shoulder with a smile. For a moment the two just looked at one another before Jack shook his head again and turned away. “I’ll see you tomorrow Davey, sleep well.”

“You too Jacky, see you.” Those damn butterflies returned as Jack grinned at him one more time as he jogged down Davey’s driveway. Davey went back into his home once Jack was out of view, and retreated into his bedroom. 

He found himself minutes later, back on his rooftop, looking up at the night sky. Sighing, he ran both hands through his hair. These feelings Davey had for Jack were slowly tearing him apart. The fact that out of literally anybody else in the world, his heart belonged to his best friend frustrated him. This best friend also being a guy. 

Groaning, Davey threw a stick that had been atop the roof and watched it hit his neighbour’s house, cracking in half. Nothing could alleviate the pit of anger in his stomach. That only made him more upset and eventually he had to climb back into his bedroom, before the next thing he threw at the wall was himself.

He should just tell Jack. That would make him feel slightly better. At least the other would know. With that thought, Davey picked up the phone and dialled Jack’s number. 

“Hello?” Jack’s voice rang through the phone. Davey’s throat immediately felt dry and he knew that it would be a mistake do this now. It would ruin their entire friendship. He couldn’t do that, not yet.

“Jack it’s Davey. I just wanted to know, um, if you needed me to bring anything tomorrow?” Davey asked, hoping that maybe for once, a lie of his would be convincing.

“Oh hey Dave!” Jack’s voice seemed to become more joyful as he realized whom he was talking to. “No, no you’re good. Just bring yourself and whoever else you can muster up.”

“Oh yeah right okay. Sorry for bothering you. Goodnight Jack.”

“You’re okay pal, don’t worry. Goodnight Davey,” Responded Jack before Davey hung up.

Well that went well. After that experience, Davey knew he would not he admitting his feelings anytime soon. Not to his friends, not to his family, and especially not to Jack. It was too hard. He hoped that maybe if he just forgot about it all, it would go away. That’s what he told himself over and over again. But he knew that that would not happen.

Jack Kelly was like a drug, and David Jacobs was becoming addicted.


	7. The King Of Brooklyn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Race’s point of view in which he learns about the plans, and we learn about his friendship with a certain Brooklyn boy.

Racetrack Higgins enjoyed living life fast. It was like there was a voice inside of him, constantly telling him to do something with himself. That’s why he was repeatedly the one assisting in Jack’s schemes. Doing something even mildly dangerous or wrong gave him a rush. It’s why whenever he could, he snuck into the local horse races. That’s where he had first really met Spot Conlon. 

Sure he knew of the “King Of Brooklyn”. Their school was small enough that generally, everyone knew of everyone somehow. But he had never really had a real conversation with him. Race had seen him around the school, and even gone to a couple of the other’s wrestling games. However, it was only a couple months back that he had finally been approached by Spot.

“You know that this part of the Race’s are only for adults right?” Spot had asked him, referring to the casino section they were in. Race being a fairly tall boy, found it easy to get into the races, even the parts he wasn’t necessarily allowed in.

“You’re not any older than me, if you can be in here, so can I,” Race responded, and proceeded to enter money into the slot machine in front of him.

“My dad works here, I came to visit. I’m not here to gamble like you are.” Race chose to ignore him and watched the slot machine’s pictures spin. Frowning as nothing matched up, he leaned against the machine and faced Spot. The other was quite a bit shorter than Race remembered, and a lot more attractive than he remembered as well.

“I could go tell a worker you’re a minor. Easily get you kicked out of here,” Spot said. He gestured towards one of the employees that was standing at a poker table. Race just raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

“Yeah? You go do that then.” Spot just looked at him for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. He just about yelped as his arm was grabbed, and he was dragged out of the horse races. When they were outside, Race finally ripped his arm away and stepped away from him.

“Hey I was doing fine in there!” He exclaimed, rubbing his arm where Spot had grabbed. It was well known the other was strong, really strong, but even what seemed like a light grip for Spot, would definitely leave a bruise on his arm. 

“You were gambling illegally is what you were doing,” Spot said to which Race just rolled his eyes. 

“It’s not illegal if I don’t get caught.” Spot just looked utterly exasperated at that, but didn’t say anything so Race continued. “I’ve been coming here for months, they think I’m an adult. I wasn’t gonna get caught, not today, or in the future.” He didn’t know that for sure, but that was part of the fun. 

“Anyways you don’t even know me, why do you care so much?” Race asked. Spot  
Just furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged. 

“You go to River County yeah?” Race nodded at that. “I look out for my own kind,” He said, and Race couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Your own kind?”

“You know what I mean,” Spot sighed and rolled his eyes. “You’re not gonna stop coming back here are you?” Race shook his head and grinned.

“Not a chance, I mean, where else am I supposed to spend my weekends?”

“The arcade? Skate park? Anywhere else I normal child maybe be at?” Spot suggested. He just waved a hand, dismissing those options.

“This place, it’s like my get away. So I will be back here, next week, and the week after that,” Race began to head back towards the building before turning back to the wrestling captain. “Pleasure talking to you Conlon.”

True to his word, Racetrack returned to the races every weekend, and every weekend Spot joined him. At first, Spot had said that it was to merely make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. He’d say that at least if he was there with the son of the manager, he could get off any charges a bit easier. But after a while, Race started to really doubt his motives. Especially once him and Spot started hanging out outside the casino area. 

It started when during the evening, Spot’s dad had given his son money to go and get some food for dinner. Conlon at first said he wasn’t going, claiming he needed to keep an eye on Race. However eventually, Race was able to convince Spot to go, on the grounds that he would accompany him. Every Saturday night since, they would go out and get some pizza or some other cheap food.

Eventually, them being together wasn’t only confined to Saturday nights. Race after a while started inviting Spot to do things with him outside the races, and Spot would almost always agree. After every time they were together, he could see the wrestling captain slowly becoming more relaxed around him. 

It was a week after Race had pulled off the stink bomb fiasco, when he first made Spot laugh. As in laugh so hard he couldn’t breathe for a while. It was the day Jack came to the bleachers at lunch, saying there was an important meeting at the park after school, and also the same day he knew he officially had a crush on the king of Brooklyn.

“What do you think the meeting is about?” Race asked Spot. It was just after school, and the two of them were sitting on the bleachers at the school football field. The “meeting” was in an hour so they had decided to hang around and kill some time. 

“It’s Kelly, so it’s probably gonna be about another prank he’s planning,” Spot said scowling slightly as Race pulled a cigar from his jacket pocket. Smoking, despite all his knowledge on how it’s slowly destroying his lungs, was a habit of his at this point. He wouldn’t call it an addiction per say, easily he could go without it, and he has. But from time to time he enjoyed it. 

“That’s disgusting Higgins,” he stated, shaking his head at him. Race just rolled his eyes and gave it a drag, blowing it away from the other’s face. Currently Spot was almost at Race’s height, as he was sitting on the top bar and Race was just standing on the top row of seats.

“My pops brought it on one of his visits. Snatched it out of his jacket pocket when he went to the bathroom. It makes me feel like an old rich man, like Pulitzer,” Explained Race, to which Spot snorted. Grinning, he put a finger up to his upper lip and put on his best “snobby old man” voice.

“I say young man, when I was your age I was not taking part in such immature, boyish gags. I was starting my own business,” Race mocked. This caused Spot to laugh a bit more. Wanting that to continue, he stood up perfectly straight and continued his impression. Soon, Spot as hunched over, laughing hard, with tears springing from the corners of his eyes.

Seeing Spot laugh like that, it was absolutely beautiful to Race. It was rare to see him be so, free looking. The boy was usually pretty calm and chill. But seeing him laugh like that caused Race’s heart to flutter with fondness. He stopped his mockery to just watch the other. Eventually he stopped laughing and looked up at Race, still smiling. As he smiled back at him, Higgins realized that he wasn’t just slightly attracted to Spot. He had a full on crush on him.

That discovery startled him slightly. Usually, he was not one to develop full on crushes on people. Instead it was usually just small attractions based on the person’s looks that passed fairly quickly. This however was different. He found himself adoring most everything about Spot. Not knowing what to do with these new found feelings, Race decided it best to just act as if nothing happened, because it was nothing. Or so he tried to convince himself.

“Didn’t know you could laugh Spotty,” He teased. Spot rolled his eyes and shoved him lightly.

“Shut up Racer.” Race just grinned wider at the nickname and took another drag of the old cigar. Spot’s eyes narrowed again and he lost the boyish look that was there before. “What’d you mean by one of his visits?” He asked, referring to Race’s explanation of his cigar earlier. At the question, he tried to suppress a frown and act nonchalant about it. 

“My dad left when I was five. He comes once a year to visit me. It’s his way of pretending he’s somewhat of a decent father,” Race said. His voiced stayed fairly even, as he definitely did not want to seem emotional about his dad. The bastard of a man didn’t deserve any emotion from him.

“Race I’m-“ Spot started, but Race just shook his head and cut him off. Nobody ever talked about his “situation”. It was taboo amongst his group. They all knew Race didn’t want any sympathy from anyone when it came to that, especially Spot Conlon.

“Don’t, alright?” Race snapped. Spot just nodded and looked away from him. Taking one look at his cigar, he threw it on to the floor of the metal bleacher and stomped on it, putting it out. “We should get going to the meeting.”

“Yeah, Kelly will be expecting us soon,” Spot agreed, hopping down from his perch on the top bar. The two of them climbed down and headed in the direction of the park. He knew he should apologize for the way he snapped at him back at the school, but their friendship so far hadn’t been based on apologies. So instead he kept his mouth shut and hoped that Spot wasn’t angry with him.

It wasn’t long until they arrived at the park. Race could see a small group of high school boys formed there. He instantly recognized Albert’s red hair, and Finch, sitting atop the slide and aiming at a tree with his slingshot. There were some other’s he noticed as he got closer that went to his school, but he wasn’t sure of their names. He saw a second smaller group of boys off to the side, whom he did not recognize. 

“Who are they?” Race asked Spot as they got closer. Spot appeared as if to be studying them before he looked up at Race. 

“I think they’re from Brimstone,” He said. Upon closer look, Race did recognize one or two of them from when he’d snuck in before. Hopefully they would not recognize him, or else he’d be completely busted. Almost positive they wouldn’t be happy to see him if they did in fact know him, Race strayed away from that group.

Spot luckily stayed with him, and the two of them chatted by a large tree until he saw Jack arrive with a taller boy in tow. Jack climbed on to a merry-go-round in the middle of the park and cleared his throat, asking for attention. Spot nodded in his direction, and the two of them made their way over and into the group.

“Alright boys,” He started, before pausing and gesturing towards one girl Race hadn’t noticed was there until now. “And Katherine. Now look, my friend Davey here and I, we heard some things that effect all of us. Both from Brimstone and River County,” Jack said, addressing both groups in turn. Instantly he noticed a huge tension between the two groups, which was understandable.

“Pulitzer and Snyder, they got a plan. They’re gonna be tearing down both schools.” Immediately frantic whispers filled the air as the kids tried to understand what was happening. Race’s eyebrows raised and he attempted to push his way to the front of the group.

“And then what? Rebuild them nicer or something?” Race asked Jack. The boy shook his head.

“No. They’re gonna he replacing it with one school. They’re gonna be making us pay to go to this new school, like some fancy private school or something. It’s not gonna be cheaper either. All their after is money.” A chorus of yelling came from the two groups. Angry teenagers were yelling as if it were Jack’s fault for this whole thing. 

“They can’t do this to us!” Finch called out.

“Why not? It’s their schools,” Race responded, running his hands through his hair. It was his back up stress reliving habit if he didn’t have a cigar on him.

“Yeah it’s Pulitzer’s town. He’s made it clear,” Crutchie added on from off to the side. The kid was right, this town was Pulitzer’s, that had been made clear since he built his small empire. Pulitzer was not only a principal, but the only millionaire in Kettleston. With that money, came power. A power that no lot of children could even come close to matching.

“This ain’t Pulitzer’s town!” Jack yelled over the voices. All eyes turned back to him as he spoke. “Neither Pulitzer nor Snyder would be where they are now without us, without the people giving them the money they’ve got. So it’s our town, and we get a fucking say in what happens to it!” 

Cheers erupted from the group, completely contradicting the tone of it before. Even Race joined in on it, pumping one fist in the air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Spot crossing his arms, the only one not cheering. The boy looked skeptical at the whole ordeal, and Race didn’t exactly blame him. 

“What do you except us to do?” Albert DaSilva asked.

“I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do. They can’t expect us to pay to get an education. Something that is a right to us. So, we won’t go. We won’t go to school until Pulitzer and Snyder agree to keep our schools.” Jack explained. While the River County students seemed to instantly be on board with Jack’s plan, those from Brimstone seemed a bit more skeptical about listening to him.

A shorter boy with high red and blue socks stepped up to face Jack. “Why should we listen to you Kelly? If you haven’t forgotten, we’re not exactly your biggest fans. Who’s to say you ain’t trying to screw us over and this isn’t just another prank?” He asked. Jack looked like he was about to say something before before the boy, Davey, stepped up from beside him.

“Romeo you’ve got to trust him. I wouldn’t be here if it were just some prank against our school. I heard it myself, I was with Jack at the time. This is something that isn’t only going to affect them, but us too. So it’s in everyone’s best interest to listen to what he has to say,” Davey stated, and the other group of boys (and Katherine) seemed to listen to him. It seemed like Davey had the same influence over the other group, that Jack had on theirs. 

“Now, Pulitzer and Snyder think they can get away with this, they think we’re nothing, but are we nothing?” Jack asked, voice becoming louder and more determined after Davey backed him up.

The group collectively cheered “No!” At Jack’s question. Though Race had his doubts about this plan of Jack’s, like any mildly sane person would, he felt pumped. This plan had risks to it, that made him feel jittery, and anything that made him feel like that had to be worth a shot. Spot on the other hand, did not seem to hold the same beliefs as him.

“What about the detentions and punishments we’ll get if we follow through huh? By the end of the week you all will be back in school like none of this happened. Until I see proof that you aren’t gonna back down, don’t count me in,” Spot said, shaking his head and walking away. Race looked back and forth between the boy and the group. Sighing he stepped up to Jack and lowered his voice.

“I’ll go talk to him, try and convince him. Meet tomorrow and tell me what I miss with the rest of this meeting okay?” He asked, to which Jack nodded and told him to “go follow his man”. Race flipped him off as he began to jog away after Spot. 

“Conlon wait up!” He called to him. The other kept on walking, not turning back to Race. It didn’t take long for Race to catch up with him, as his long legs allowed him to move fast, so in a moment he was stopping Spot but placing a hand on his shoulder. Spot turned around and crossed his arms, and pressed his lips into a straight line, giving off his usual cold vibe. 

“Look Higgins, I ain’t joining this little strike you all are putting on. I’ve seen it before, the whole lot of them are gonna back down at the first sign of confrontation. It’s not gonna make a difference,” He said. Not yet had the hand Race placed on Spot’s shoulder been removed, and the latter didn’t seem to care. Which was good, because Race didn’t mind in the slightest that it was still there.

“You don’t know if it’s gonna be like that though! This could actually work,” Spot snorted in disbelief but Race just continued. “It really could. I have my disbeliefs too but we gotta try don’t we?” 

The wrestling captain sighed, seemingly running out of arguments against Racetrack’s point. As if just noticing the hand that was on his shoulder, he watched Spot blush and quickly shrug it off, which made Race grin slightly. He had never seen the Brooklyn King blush until now, and it had been his fault!

“Look, if by the end of the week, if the majority if the kids haven’t backed down, then I’ll join. Alright?” Race nodded and kept the grin on his face. If he wasn’t almost completely positive that he’d get punched afterwards, he’d kiss Spot right then and there. But the other didn’t swing that way, and that was totally fine with Race, definitely.

“I swear I won’t let you down Spotty,” He promised. Spot let his stern expression melt away, and it was instead replaced with a small, almost shy smile that made Race’s heart melt. 

“I don’t doubt it Racer. Wanna go grab a bite to eat at Miss Medda’s diner?” The boy suggested, which Race immediately agreed to. Jack and Crutchie’s foster mum owned, in his opinion, the best diner in town. It was their groups’ second favourite hang out place, right after Jacobi’s Ice Cream Parlour. 

“Lead the way.”

~~~

It was an hour later when the two boys were done dinner. Spot had said he had homework that needed to be done, so Race said he’d walk him home. The night was chillier, an autumn breeze blowing through the town. It caused him to shiver lightly, which lead to him wearing Spot’s jacket around his shoulders a minute later. He had refused the offer to borrow it at first, but Spot said he’d force him to wear it if he didn’t take it. 

“Why are you called the ‘King Of Brooklyn’ if we don’t live in New York?” Race found himself asking on their walk back. He himself had called him the infamous nickname, but never knew where it originated from.

“Halfway through freshman year I moved here from Brooklyn. I had been on the wrestling team at my old school too, and apparently I was known here as being, well, good,” Spot chuckled lightly and rubbed his hand behind his neck. “So when I got here, the wrestling had already started calling me that, and I guess it just stuck,” He explained. As he finished they arrived outside Spot’s home.

Once they stopped outside the house, an almost nervous looking expression crossed Spot’s face briefly, an expression he’d never seen before. It almost startled Race before the other began speaking again. “This Sunday, drive-in movie?” 

There was no way that Spot Conlon was asking him on a date. No, it was just another hang out. Except when did friends really go to drive-in movies? His friends and him sure as hell never did. It was known as a thing couples did with one another. Not friends. But that’s all it had to be right? 

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Race began before shaking his head and backing up his train of thought. “I mean that sounds fine,” He said, trying to sound more nonchalant about it. On the inside, Race was freaking out slightly. Spot just nodded, not seeming to notice the small blush growing on Racetrack’s cheeks.

“Cool, great. I’ll see you tomorrow Higgins.” 

“Goodnight Conlon,” Responded Race, watching Spot retreat up his driveway and into his home. Once the door was closed, he practically skipped with joy away from the house and down the sidewalk.

While one side of his mind was occupied with worries and thoughts about the “strike”, the other side could not help but be filled with joy at the thought of going to the movie with Spot Conlon. It was like a dream. Except, it wasn’t going to be like how he wished it would be. In the end, it would just be two friends at a movie. 

‘That’s all Race would ever be to him’. He thought to himself, pretending to not feel his heart break. Because it had to be fine. Race was fine, totally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading lovelies! As always comments are appreciated very much!  
> Have a good morning/day/night!  
> -Jackie


	8. We Run This Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally confront Pulitzer on his plans.

Jack Kelly, at 3:00am the next morning, found himself climbing back into his and Crutchie’s shared bedroom. Their mom was working the night shift that night, and Jack knew it would be the only time for a while that he’d be able to sneak out and go for an early morning walk under the stars. When the sun was gone, and the stars were out was the best time for Jack to clear his head. So he seized the opportunity at 1:00am, when he thought Crutchie was asleep, and climbed out his bedroom window. 

“Where were you? ” A voice, his brother’s, asked from the dark. Jack squinted to see Crutchie sitting up on the bottom bunk of their bed, legs drawn up to his chest and blanket draped over them. He had thought for sure the kid was sound asleep, however as he crouched by his window, it seemed apparent that the other had been up for a while. Standing up, Jack made his way over to the bottom bunk and sat down, facing Crutchie.

“Went out, walked around town. Needed to clear my head,” He explained. 

“Thinking about tomorrow?” Crutchie asked, cocking his head to the side. Nodding, Jack motioned for Crutchie to scorch over so he could sit beside him. His brother did so, and soon Jack has joined him under the blanket. Their first week of living in Miss Medda’s home, the two boys used to share a bed for comfort. They were both scared shitless and Jack began to feel he relied heavily on the other for support. That feeling was still there eleven years later. 

“Yeah. It’s just those kids are counting that me and Davey made the right decision. The decision to essentially ditch school. Them kids, if they get in trouble from the teachers or their parents, it’s all my fault. I can’t deal with the thought of letting them down Crutch,” Jack said, letting out a sigh and clenching the thin blanket in his fists.

“You ain’t gonna let them down Jack. This plan, it’s gonna work. It’s all gonna be fine in the end. Pulitzer and Snyder ain’t gonna have a clue what’s goin’ on when we don’t show up tomorrow. So long as word got around fast enough, it’s gonna work,” Crutchie assured him, patting Jack on the back. “‘Sides, I don’t think Snyder is smart enough to know what to do to stop us.” That made grin and snort lightly.

“I gotta agree with you on that.” Jack turned so his full body was facing his brother. “Look I need to get my mind off this before I go insane, so can I ask you something?” Crutchie nodded at that. “All them years ago, you came home upset an’ locked me outta the bedroom.”

At those words, the other frowned and looked away from Jack. He began fiddling with the blanket and looked extremely uncomfortable. Though Jack continued with his question. “What exactly happened? I mean I’ve never seen you so upset. Do you wanna talk bout’ it now?” Asked Jack. Crutchie, for a moment just stared at the ground beside him before taking a deep breath and nodding.

“Well I ain’t saying it’s your fault, cause it ain’t just that, but that morning you had asked me what had happened to my leg. That sorta put me on edge about it for the rest of the day,” Jack tried to interrupt to apologize but Crutchie just held up a hand, wanting to continue. “In science class that day, my class was going for a nature walk around the block. It was a supply teacher and he wasn’t so kind about my leg. He told me I couldn’t come because I’d just slow the whole class down.”

Crutchie took a shaky breath before continuing. “I was sat in the office, and as I watched the class walk by and I-I just, I don’t know, lost it? That’s why my old crutch was broke. I had thrown it at the wall and it snapped. The secretary immediately tried to calm me down but I was already shaking, and, and just sobbing. By the time you and mum had gotten there, I just felt numb.”

Jack wrapped an arm around his brother and held him close, letting him cry into his shoulder. It had been years since he’d seen the other cry. Crutchie had always been stronger than him in that way. So Jack didn’t know what to do other than hug him and rub his back gently. They sat like that for a while until the sound of sobs slowly softened to silence. 

“I ain’t never told you what happened to my leg did I?” Crutchie asked, his voice quiet and scratchy, to which Jack shook his head. Sitting back up straight, Crutchie wiped any tears that still remained and cleared his throat.

“I didn’t come from a good family. I was young so I don’t remember much, but I remember hearing my birth mom crying in her room one night, while my dad screamed at her. The next morning my mom was gone, and I took her place in being the thing my birth dad took his anger out on.” Crutchie must’ve noticed Jack practically shaking with anger, as he set a hand on his shoulder and smiled softly at him, though you could see the sadness in his eyes no smile could hide. 

“I’m sure you can figure out where on me he took the most anger out on me one day,” His brother said, nodding down at his bum leg. 

“Crutch, I ain’t, I didn’t have a clue.” He was angry. Angry at all the mothers who left without their son’s. Angry at all the fathers who didn’t act like one. Mostly, angry at the world for giving kids like them, pasts like the one they had.

“I know you didn’t, but you do now. But, I still never want your sympathy a’ight? Next time you go to apologize for something that happened to me that you couldn’t, just remember I still got one good leg and I can kick your ass with it,” Crutchie stated. 

Taking a deep breath, Jack let out a laugh at the other and nudged him lightly. “Alright tough stuff, I’ll remember. Let’s get some sleep. That strike ain’t gonna lead itself.” Crutchie grinned and nodded, slinking slowly down under his blanket.

Jack stood up and climbed up the small wooden ladder to the top bunk. It creaked softly as he settled down under his blanket and tried to get comfortable. The two of them had been using these beds since they got them for Christmas. It was a lot nicer than sharing one bed, and their room couldn’t hold more than one. 

“Goodnight Jack,” His brother said from the bed below. 

“Night Crutch. Get some sleep pal.” Slowly, Jack felt himself drift off to sleep. Half of his thoughts consisting of worries pertaining to Crutchie’s happiness, and the other half made up of worries for their strike.

~~~

When the morning came, Jack couldn’t help but feel relief at seeing Davey standing outside his home. There had been a small part of him that figured that maybe the other would ditch the whole plan. Continue with his plan of getting a proper education. Instead, Davey Jacobs was standing there in a forest green button up shirt, black blazer looking jacket and pants, and the hat Les has stolen just days prior. 

The boy looked crazy good. For a moment he couldn’t help but just stare before clearing his head and approaching his friend. 

“Davey! Glad to see you didn’t chicken out before this thing even started!” Jack greeted, giving him a quick hug and a pat on the back. Returning the hug, Davey chuckled lightly and smiled, making Jack’s stomach flutter ever so slightly. 

“Yeah well isn’t a captain supposed to stay on board even if the ship is sinking?” Davey countered, to which Jack held his hands up in defence with a laugh.

“Fair enough. Crutchie will be out in a moment, then we can head to the park. From there we’ll figure out who gets to be the lucky ducks to tell Pulitzer and Snyder that they ain’t pushin’ us around anymore,” Jack explained. Meeting on neutral territory had seemed like the most logical choice. 

After Race had chased Conlon out of the park, the group had collectively decided on the place and time. However it was still clear many of the students had doubts about the whole thing. Today, he hoped, those doubts could be wiped away. Especially from his own mind.

“Good, you fellas didn’t leave without me,” Crutchie said, emerging from the doorway. He watched Davey greet the boy kindly, and the two chatted for a moment. His brother had never directly hated those from Brimstone. Generally, the boy stayed away from pranks but supported Jack. However, seeing him interact in such a way with Davey, just made him feel so extremely euphoric.

“Right boys we best get goin’. The rest of the group is gonna be there, and hopefully even more kids of the word got out. If this goes well, by the end of the week, Spot Conlon and the wrestling team will be joinin’ us too,” Jack said, interrupting a conversation between the other two. 

The three of them set off to the park, chatting animatedly about different topics. Jack attempted to keep the topics light and off of anything that could possibly go wrong with the other plan, and if Davey and Crutchie were trying to do the same, nobody said anything. Yet even during a conversation on something as light as their plans for Halloween, there was still a cloud of unease looming over the group.

Eventually, the park came into view, and with it, a large group of children standing there, waiting. Jack was almost immediately frozen still in fear. All these kids were counting on him to lead them. To tell them what to do and how to do it. They trusted him not to fuck this all up. His mind was screaming for him to not go through with it just as he felt a warm hand slip into his and squeeze it.

“You can do this,” Davey said. His hand had not yet let go of Jack’s, and if he wasn’t so preoccupied, he’d be blushing madly.

“Where, where’s Crutch?” Jack asked, noticing the kid had disappeared. 

“He just went to talk to a friend. Now listen, those kids are counting on you to lead them. They need someone to tell them what they’re doing, and you’re the person they’re looking for. All these kids need you Jacky.” Davey gestured to the group in front of them, who had not yet noticed that their “leader” had arrived.

“What do I even say to em’?” Sure, by most Jack was seen as the head of this. In reality however, it was Davey who had put all the ideas and “smarts” into it. The kid almost always knew what to say, in the best way possible. He thought things over. Jack instead just said anything that came to mind. This couldn’t be done without the other.

“You tell them what you’ve told me. That Pulitzer and Snyder can not just changes the rules of the game whenever it suits them best. Pulitzer thinks that because he’s got more money in his pocket than all of the kids in his school combined, that he’s got the power. But the power lies with us. Not him, or even Snyder. We have the numbers,” Davey said, becoming gradually sounding more determined as he spoke. 

“Damn Jacobs, I knew you had brains in there, but that was a whole knew level,” He joked, nudging the other lightly in the side. Davey just rolled his eyes and laughed. 

“Yeah, yeah. Now, go get em’ tiger.” His hand was given one final squeeze before Jack was shoved forward, towards the group.

As if they were waiting for him to arrive, which more than likely they were, the group turned to watch Jack. Taking one more deep breath, he willed his nerves to calm down, and instead replaced them with adrenaline. He could do this.

“Alright guys, it’s time. Pulitzer and Snyder, they’re gonna be expecting two schools full of kids. Instead what are we doing? Forming our own revolution.” Small cheers erupted throughout the group, Crutchie’s “woop!” Being the loudest. 

Growing in confidence, Jack stood a little straighter, and held his head just a little higher. “We’re gonna show em’ that they don’t run this town, despite what they think! They can’t just change things whenever they please! This is our town, without us they’d be nothing.” From off to the side, Jack could see Davey beaming at Jack’s words, though they were hardly his own.

“Now we could just skip school, and make it look like we’re just a bunch of teenagers that don’t care about our education. Or we can go right to the source and tell Pulitzer and Snyder exactly what’s going on!” 

He watched as Davey’s eyebrows raised, as that part had not been apart of their original plan. “Someone’s gotta tell them ol’ bastards that we’re not letting this just happen! That even though we’re just a bunch of kids, we mean business!” Jack exclaimed. The energy of the group gradually became more excited as he spoke. Some of the younger freshmen were practically bouncing on their feet. 

“So who tells em’?” Someone from Brimstone shouted out.

“Davey? Who goes to them?” Jack asked, turning to the boy who was standing just off to the side of the merry-go-round. Davey’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“I don’t know,” He responded, averting his eyes from the group that was now focused on him. “I don’t know. I guess, I guess you do.” Some narrowed their eyes at the answer, others nodded, agreeing with what Davey had said. Though after a moment, one lanky boy from Brimstone with round glasses stepped forward. 

“It’s not right that’s it’s only River County getting a say in this. Brimstone is going to be affected by all this. That’s why we’re all here,” The boy said, gesturing to the large group of kids around him. “So either we get a representative too, or we walk and find our own way to stop Pulitzer and Snyder.” 

Jack knew the kid was right. He also knew exactly who to bring with him.

“That’s why Davey will come with me.” As he figured he would, the boy immediately held his hands up and shook his head, opening his mouth to protest, but Jack just continued. “That’s someone from each school.” 

“Glasses” stepped back, seeming content with Jack’s solution. “Any other questions? No? Alright, Racetrack, Albert, you’re to go to River County and get any kids who went to school to join us. Two of you from Brimstone will do the same with your school,” He explained, and those who were mentioned gave him thumbs up.

“The rest of the group, I need you to wait here. Davey and I will talk to Pulitzer, see what we can do, and then come back here and tell you all what happened. But whatever happens, by the end of the day, Pulitzer and Snyder will know we ain’t standing by and leading this happen!” A second chorus of cheers erupted from the group that day.

Hopping down from the play structure, Jack wrapped an arm around Davey’s shoulders and began to drag him away from the group. His friends, plus two students from Brimstone branches off from the group and followed not too far behind the two of them. Race and Albert were chattering happily, along with the Brimstone boys. The only ones not talking were him and Davey.

As soon as Race and Albert turned down a separate street to head towards River County, Davey stopped walking and turned towards Jack. The two from Brimstone stopped, but Jack just motioned for them to keep on walking. Once they were alone again, Davey began rambling.

“Jack no I can’t go in there with you. I mean I can’t do confrontation. You’ve been the head of this, so it’s obvious that you go in there. But me? I’m no use. You should’ve gotten someone like Romeo, or better yet Katherine to go in there. I mean she’s strong like you and-“ Instead of letting him finish, Jack put his hand over the other’s mouth, and tried not to laugh as Davey looked shocked at what he did.

“Are you done?” Jack asked, and Davey just nodded, furrowing his eyebrows. Pulling his hand away, he set it on his shoulder instead. “Look Davey, you’re the brains behind this whole thing. Those words? They were yours, not mine. You’re the one who got all them kids from your school to join us. Without you, this wouldn’t be happening. I need you.”

After a moments realization of what he said at the end, Jack quickly cleared his throat. “In there with me. I need you by my side while I face the Goliath himself,” He added on. Whether or not the blush that he watched appear on Davey’s face was real or not, Jack was unsure. 

Almost defeatedly, a sigh came from Davey, and he finally nodded. “Alright then, let’s do this.” Grinning, he hooked arms with the other and practically dragged him down the sidewalk. 

On their way, a kids here and there from both schools were seen heading on down to the park. Greeting each of them in turn, a feeling of pride welled up in Jack’s stomach. Their plan was slowly falling more and more into place as each teen passed by them. With all of this, there was no way Pulitzer could say no to their requests.

~~~

“No,” Joesph Pulitzer said from behind his desk. The Brimstone secretary Hannah had let the two of them in as soon as she saw Davey. Apparently he was one of few students who was extra polite to her, and therefore she was fond of him. Pulitzer on the other hand did not have the same regards towards the boys it seemed. 

“But sir,” Davey began, stepping forwards from where he was stationed behind Jack. So far the other had stayed fairly silent, letting Jack lead the conversation. He was grateful to hear him speaking up finally. “If you could just hear us out, I mean it’s not just us it’s almost your whole school and River County too that’s protesting this.”

Standing up, Pulitzer walked around to the front of his desk and leaned back on it, folding his arms over his chest. “I’m sorry gentlemen but it is how it is. I’m unsure of how you even heard that this would be happening, though there is no sense in denying the truth. So by April, the new school will be up and running,” He explained, and if Jack wasn’t furious before, he was fuming now. 

“That’s just one month before the end of school, before we graduate!” Jack exclaimed. “Some of us won’t even be able to cause we can’t pay for your stupid school!” A hand was set on his shoulder, which he assumed was Davey’s, though he was unable to even focus on his friend at the moment. 

“Mr Pulitzer, all we ask is that you hear us out. All those kids out there that can’t pay for school, they’ll lose out on a proper education and-“ Before Davey could continue, Pulitzer held a hand up and stood straight back up. Checking his watch, the man straightened his jacket and looked between the two of them.

“As much as I’d love to be able to help you boys, I have plenty of meetings to attend to with my contractors and lawyers. I trust that you can see yourselves out,” The Brimstone Principal said, gesturing towards the door. 

“Listen here you old son of a-“ 

“No Jack, it’s not worth it, let’s just go,” Davey said, cutting him off before he could finish. Turning to face him, Jack knew he looked angry. His fists and jaw were clenched, and his lips were pressed tightly in a thin line. But Davey just looked at him, silently pleading for them to take their exit. After a moment, Jack turned back to Pulitzer and pointed at him. 

“If you think that this is over, it ain’t. If you think that us, and every other kid out there , are gonna give up, you are sorely mistaken,” Jack stated. He spun on his heels and marched out of the large office with Davey right behind him. The other boy wished Hannah a lovely day before they left the school together. 

“Who the fuck does he think he is,” Jack huffed once they were far enough away from the school. “His throne is so far up his ass that he can’t even take a minute to listen to us.” Running his hands through his hair, he took a deep breath. It wasn’t worth getting angry about it now. “We gotta break the news to the others that Pulitzer didn’t budge.”

He was not looking forward to that. To disappointing all the kids that were counting on Davey and him to fix it all. Sure he wasn’t expecting to go into that office and have everything fixed right away, but he had thought maybe Pulitzer would at least fold slightly. 

“Yeah but they’re gonna understand Jack. This just means we have our work cut out for us, and if those cheers that came from them earlier mean anything, they’re ready to face it all,” Davey said. 

Jack nodded his head, biting the inside of his lip as he thought over their next moves. “They’ve gotta be ready, if we want Conlon and the wrestling team to join. Once we have them, the rest of the school, I’m positive, will join in.” 

“And they will. Spot will see that we’re determined to win this.” The reassurance helped rid of Jack’s doubts slightly, but they were still swirling around in his mind. Davey, for the second time that day, took his hand in a quick motion, gave it a squeeze, before letting go again. 

“Like you said, I swear it,” He echoed what Jack had been telling him since the beginning of their “strike”. Between that, and having his hand being held for the second time that day, Jack was now beaming. Davey’s face mirrored that, and for a moment they just looked at one another. After a moment Davey finally looked away and laughed nervously. 

“We have time to smile later, let’s go plan a revolution,” Jack said, starting to walk again and pulling Davey along with him. Davey snorted and followed him along. He wanted to smile with the other later. He wanted to chat and laugh and just be kids with him when this was over. But at that moment, Jack knew he had to focus on what was ahead. 

Still, he consistently found his mind trailing back to Davey Jacobs, and knew this crush of his was developing into an issue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m so sorry for the delay! There’s been a lot of stress on me lately, and I really haven’t had the motivation to write this chapter. I don’t even know how I feel about it besides that it’s long.  
> Also with exams coming up, my time to write is gonna be even smaller, so chapters may be delayed until February. So sorry  
> But comments and feedback always are appreciated!  
> Have a good day/morning/night!  
> -Jackie

**Author's Note:**

> So here is my first attempt at a Newsies Fanfic! It is loosely based on a French movie called “The War Of The Buttons”  
> Feel free to check out my tumblr: Theother9600, and talk about Newsies with me!  
> I shall try to post regularly and get a schedule going, but it may vary based on work load and or chapter length.  
> Also comments and constructive criticism is always welcome! Thank you and have a good day/night/morning!
> 
> -Jackie


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